THE LEGACY OF HEROES

Message by Pastor Taiwo Odukoya

Bible Text:1 Samuel 16:1-3, 11-13; 17:49-51; 2 Samuel 7:8-17.

In Jesus Christ there is no redundancy. God has a habit of making heroes. The best place a man can best experience joy and express his best dancing steps is in God’s presence, not on the party dance floor. It is the only place you can have the fullest joy.

Usually, when God wants to use someone, He frequently uses the word ‘GO’. When a man gets to a point where he can no longer continue with God, He removes and replaces him no matter where he is or where he has attained.

The Lord has been waiting for you for a long time. He hides His power in insignificant things. The same bait that the devil wants to use against you is what the Lord will use as your stepping stone.

Is David a hero? Did he leave a legacy? How did you know? The answer is yes. Despite all his mistakes and frailties, he was a hero. Then what makes a hero? How can you describe a hero?

(a) He was a  man of integrity and after God’s heart.

(b) He was a warrior and a conqueror. A man who does exploit.

(c) He was a man that did common things in uncommon ways.

(d) He was a man that becomes something out of nothing.

WHAT IS LEGACY?

It can be described as something that is handed down from ancestors. A hero is a person typically a man who is idolized for his courage and has heroic acts – like selflessness, purity, etc. He is without the superficial and without thinking of circumstances.

Heroes are not made on the stage or by staging a big event. Heroes are scarcely born but they are made. If God doesn’t make a hero, no man can do so. So, it is God that makes heroes and gives them great names. God has great names for everyone He has created and wants us to bear the names before we die.

If you talk of heroes in terms of exploit, everyone is created for exploit. The beginning of heroism is found when God created man. He made him as such to have dominion on earth. He wanted him to influence the garden and ensure he doesn’t leave it the same way He gave him to tend. God’s mandate to man in creation is to have dominion and tend the Garden. This entails heroic characters and becoming a hero.

He brought you on earth to change things and cause changes. Every man is created for influences. No man can succeed in isolation. Everyone born of a woman must live something behind whether good or bad. Everyone leaves something behind him/her whether renowned or silent.

God oftentimes uses ordinary people and qualify them for His works. This makes everyone qualified for His work. Hollywood kind of life can make you famous, but not a hero. Heroic characters are different from famous characters. Stages only help in recognizing heroes that is not what makes them heroes.

Heroes are made in the darkness of everyday activities and challenges of life. Our habits define our heroic characters and nature. Anyone can be a hero. Where we are born and where we have once failed cannot disqualify us from being a hero.

Heroes are people who dream. It doesn’t cost to dream and when you do, God will back you up. You don’t need collateral to dream. What you do daily will determine your heroic dispositions. Whatever you are ask to do, do it well and opportunities with people will reveal your heroic characters just like Joseph and Daniel in the Bible. Your gifts will make a way for you.

As a married man, the first person to discover your heroic nature is should be your wife. Then your children, family before the society or community where you live and work. Today can be your starting point. Start to live and pursue to achieve your dreams and visions.

For King David in the Scriptures, any where he went he was found doing all things faithfully and he was very committed to other people’s lives.

THREE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT IN DAVID’S LIFE

      1.       A legacy of divine intimacy with God: - Psalms 16:8. He was a man that was crazy about God. He had total absolute reverence for God.

      2.       He left a legacy of service to humanity: - He served people selflessly. Heroic acts are often selfless acts. David served God and his nation of Israel in his generation.

      3.       He left a legacy of warfare: - He fought a good warfare and preserved his nation for God. He fought for his life and family.

Heroes are passionate about their purposes, dreams and pursuits. Heroes see opportunities and seize them. They make impossible things possible. Many people wait for opportunities, but heroes seek for opportunities. They utilize every moment.

Stop waiting for opportunities and turn every situation around you to opportunities.

I pray that the Spirit of God will help you to fulfill your heroic mandate in Jesus’ name. Amen.