At the end of “Elizabethtown”, a quirky 2005 movie starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, the fictional character Drew took a road trip to spread his father’s ashes. Drew’s father had died suddenly while visiting family in the city of Elizabethtown and the story was largely about Drew dealing with that death as well as the death (and gradual rebirth) of his own hopes and dreams. The scene was well scripted to the Elton John song “My Father’s Gun” as he drove from place to place and through laughter and tears reconnected with the memories of his father.

While in that movie the father wasn’t close to his son at the end, many fathers are much closer and get to say goodbye to their sons. At the end of King David’s life, recorded in 1 Kings 2 and 1 Chronicles 29, David was able to spend his last days setting up the transition of the kingdom to Solomon and saying goodbye with dignity. In 1 Chronicles 29 the text emphasized that David was handing a grand project to Solomon, something far greater than a gun. Solomon was given the task of doing something God would not allow David to do – build God’s Temple. David wasn’t going to be there to help him, but had prepared vast amounts of money and material for the project that was near and dear to his heart.

The meaning of the project was reflected in the last words of David as he praised God for His power, glory and majesty. Instead of boasting on his own accomplishments David humbled himself before Jehovah as the true source of all blessings and asked for a pure heart for his son Solomon before concluding with a call to the whole nation to “bless the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 29:10-20). 1 Kings 2:1-9 contains a personal appeal to Solomon to be strong and remain faithful to God.

Parents, what kind of legacy and life project are you handing down to your children? Is it a legacy of earthly accomplishments like sports, academics, or economics? Are you giving your children an earthly focused life project that will not last beyond their time on earth? Or do your children see you building yourself into a holy temple for the Lord? Are you giving them a legacy and a life project of eternal, spiritual consequence? We have them for such a short time as parents, and our time on earth is short as well so don’t waste it on trinkets and toys that are just thrown away. Build your legacy, your life project, and theirs too, on things eternal.