Oswald Chambers gave talks to soldiers and students during World War I. When he died, his immediate influence would have ended there, but his wife began publishing her notes of his lectures. That's how we got My Utmost for His Highest, which has been a far bigger influence than his original talks.
Think of the dead people you've never met who have influenced you. You've been inspired or taught or challenged by them. Somehow, they left something behind and it made a difference in your life.
It could be letters or journals or photos from long-ago relatives -- even though they didn't do it on purpose, what they left behind has influenced you. Could they have had a bigger, better impact on you if they had done it on purpose?
Who else has influenced you, that you'll never meet? It could be in writing, or music, or audio or video, or artistic, or an institution, or some creation or change they made.
What if you tried to do something to contribute to your influence after you're gone? Maybe it would be for your family, or friends, or ministry or work. It doesn't have to be 'to' them, just 'for' them. Maybe it's a letter or a series of letters or videos or a book. It doesn't have to be "for the ages" or "for the masses." You're not trying to be famous -- you're trying to be an influence for good even when you can't be there. What message is being built into you over the years? If you had to communicate that message to someone you'll never meet, what form would it take?
There's influence today that can carry on beyond it's impact now -- from parents, family, friends, teachers, pastors. There's influence that's not today but that can be in the future -- with people you'll never meet.
Some people influential today are irrelevant in the future. Some people irrelevant today are influential in the future.
And some people are both.
You're going to spend a lot more time as history than you are as today.
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