My wife, Valerie, and I have different ways of doing things. For instance, when I grab the newspaper, you can rest assured that I’m going to look at two things: I’ll read the front page, then head straight for the sports section! Not so with Valerie; she likes to read the High-Profile section, the wedding announcements and, of all things, the obituaries! Now, I have a sneaky suspicion that she’s actually looking for my name in there, but she says she is just fascinated by the way so many of the obituaries are written to give glowing testimonials about what good lives the dearly departed have lived!
You know, it got me thinking about the fact that we are all writing our own obituary each day we live! We must face the fact that, even though we call it living, the truth of the matter is that we’re all dying slowly day by day! Maybe that’s what James was thinking of when he wrote,
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”. (Jms. 4:14)
My friend, it really doesn’t matter what someone writes about us in an obituary or says about us as they stand over our casket. The only thing that will matter is whether we have a saving relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ! Now, please don’t get me wrong; we all hope that we will be remembered as a good and decent person in this life, but the opinion that really matters is not that of the one writing our obituary but that of the one who writes our name in the book of life!
How will you be remembered when you leave this world behind? Will people say you earned lots of money or held an important position? Or will they remember that you lived your life in faithful obedience to the will of God? Just remember that where you spend eternity depends in great measure on what deci- sion you make about the Lord today!
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