What are we going to leave behind?

Alfred Nobel dropped the newspaper and put his head in his hands… It was 1888. Nobel was a Swedish chemist who had made his fortune inventing and producing dynamite. His brother, Ludvig had died in France. But now Alfred’s grief was compounded by dismay. He’d just read an obituary in a French newspaper-not his brother’s but his!

The headline read, “The Merchant of Death is Dead”. An editor had confused the brothers. Alfred Nobel’s obituary described a man who had gotten rich by helping people kill one another.

Shaken by this appraisal of his life, Nobel resolved to use his wealth to change his legacy.

When he died 8 years later, he left more than $9million to fund awards for people whose work benefited humanity- now known as the Nobel Prizes.

Alfred Nobel had a rare opportunity – to look at the assessment of his life at his life at its end and change it.

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? J.I Packer said “Regard readiness to die as the first step in learning how to live.”

Psalms 90:12- Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.