I’m reading a book by Bob Buford entitled “Halftime”. The premise of the book is that he spent the first half of his life being successful.  He built a flourishing business, earned all the money he needed and was admired by many in what he had accomplished.  His personal, business & spiritual life were the model of success.  The second half of his life he wanted to move from success to significance  making a lasting impact & legacy that would far outlast any personal success and even his years spent on this earth.

Buford states; “None of us knows when he will die. But any of us, if we wish, may select our own epitaph. The one Buford has chosen for himself is simple – 100X.

100X means “100 times”. Taken from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.

3 Then he (Jesus) told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

Simply stated, Buford wants to be remembered as a seed that was planted in good soil and was multiplied a hundred fold.

That’s exactly how I want to live.  As I live my passion, my commitments to my family and the ministry that God has placed in my care, I want to leave a legacy that is a symbol of a higher yield both in my life and in my death. Fruit that will remain not just in the short term – but for an eternity.

100X — An epitaph that is not just carved into the granite stone of a tombstone, but that lives in what I have accomplished through how I lived my life and lasts for an eternity.