A few years ago, I had the privilege of hearing Ken Whitten, the pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church. Ken had a lot of wonderful things to share but the one thing I could not shake was his explanation of David and God’s refusal to allow him to build the temple. David wanted to create a place of worship to honor God. I believe his motives were right and his desire pure. After all, this was a man after God’s own heart. Yet, God, in His sovereignty, would not permit it.

As I processed that, it spoke to my heart powerfully because he was a man who wanted desperately to do something monumental for God. His desire was to leave a legacy that memorialized the greatness of the Almighty. That has always been my desire. I have always dreamed of someday leaving behind something which pointed directly to my Lord, directed others to the cross and continued long after my passing to affect change in this world.

I have shared this story with only a few people, but I had a dream when I was a young preacher, maybe 16 years old or so. I dreamed that I was preaching in the new Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. For many years I held onto that dream as possibly prophetic. My preaching hero growing up had preached in the Astrodome in Houston and somehow, I always thought I would follow in his footsteps. I think my motives were pure…I just wanted to see throngs of people come to Jesus. Later, I dreamed of pastoring a large church. Again, I don’t think it had much to do with fame or fortune; I just wanted to make an impact for the kingdom of God.

But on December 29, 2002, when Riverfront Stadium was demolished, so was a piece of my soul and lofty dreams. Just like David would never get to build the Lord’s temple, so I would never preach to fifty-thousand people on the banks of the Ohio River. David’s “heart after God’s” must have broken that day when it dawned on him he would never leave the legacy he had hoped. At 67 years old, it has dawned on me that I will never pastor a megachurch, be a denominational leader or even leave a sizable footprint in the sands of time, and some days, I must admit, it makes me very sad.

However, when one thinks of David and what he left behind, we are reminded that although he did not build the temple, he did write much of the book of Psalms, which has given millions comfort and encouragement in times of suffering and grief. And although he will never be known as the temple builder, he will forever be listed in the genealogy of Christ! He did not get to do the one big thing his heart dreamed of, but he did influence all of time and eternity. What a revelation!

Only eternity will reveal what our lives have left behind. The influence of our words, deeds and descendants (both physical and spiritual) will one day be calculated by One whose arithmetic always arrives at the correct sum. There is no need to cry over temples not built or stadium sermons never preached. If we walk through every open door God leads us to, we can close our eyes as we take our final breath, knowing we have done enough to leave precisely the legacy God has chosen for us. And that is what matters.

The temple David wanted to build would one day have been destroyed, but his influence will never fade. The sermon I would have preached in the stadium would surely have been forgotten by now. Instead, I have shared the story of His love in hundreds of ways, in scores of different tucked-away places, to little congregations over the years. The good news: The influence of that gospel story will never be demolished by armies or explosives, and that, my friends, is a legacy we can all pray to leave behind.