August 17, 2018

How Will People Remember You?

And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. – 2 Peter 1:15

If you were to die in car wreck today, what would people say about you? If you were to suffer a fatal heart attack today, what would people remember about you? If today were your last day on this earth, what difference would you have made in the lives of others?

We know that tomorrow isn’t promised. We know that. So why do we live as though we’ve got plenty of days ahead to finally do all those things we’ve planned to do? You know what I’m talking about: vacations and playing with your children, volunteering at the food bank and inviting your elderly neighbor over for a meal and fellowship with your family.

Most of us have good intentions. We do. We’re just so busy. We’re so caught up in the things of this world that we miss what’s ahead. We forget that we’re only here for a short time. We labor for things that won’t last, neglecting eternal things.

Peter is looking toward to what awaits him in heaven. He is asking others to make every effort to increase their faith and to embrace their calling as people of Christ. And to live as people who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, people who will be welcomed into an eternal kingdom by Jesus.

There was something Bart Millard said in the DVD Bible study on his song I Can Only Imagine that really stayed with me. In talking about his Dad, he noted that he was more a part of Bart’s future than he was of his past.

My age clearly indicates that I’ve got more years behind me than I have in front of me. I am on the downward slide toward heaven. I eagerly look forward to it. But it sure puts today’s struggles, aggravations, and tasks in perspective.

Life becomes less about what I have and more about how I can impact others for Jesus. I ask Him to let my life reflect His light. I want my life to be about Him. Satan, of course, has another plan. This spiritual warfare is real. We all must be vigilant and cling tightly to the One who strengthens us to withstand all enemy attacks.

So, what will people remember about you when you are gone? Will they remember that fancy house or awesome car? Will they remember your career success? For how long? Time has a way of erasing things. Houses become old. Cars lose their luster. And someone else is always waiting to take over your job.

Will they remember that you loved Jesus? Will they remember that you gave generously of both your time and money to help others? Will they remind your children about how kind you were to others?  Will your children tell their children about how you were never too busy to play, to read a story, to talk to them about Jesus?

I will forever remember my Aunt Murl sitting quietly in a chair praying. I remember my cousin Peggy who, tethered to oxygen and too frail to stay alone, continually sought to learn and grow in Christ. I will remember my friend Rose who, though she couldn’t even go outside, still ministered to others with cards and phone calls. I will remember my friend John who always helped me and others, with no expectation of anything in return.

I could go on and on, listing those I have witnessed actually living their faith. It’s so easy to check that Christian box, to attend church on Sunday, to give from your abundance. But those who live Jesus? Well, they’re something special. They don’t need to check a box for others to know who they belong to. They don’t need to preach and judge others. Their lives already tell the gospel.

What will people remember about you? You answer that question every day with how you live your life.

July 21, 2018

What Will People Remember?

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him. – 1 Corinthians 2:9

He loved Jesus. And that love permeated everything he did, whether at work, at church, at home. He gave generously of his time and money to those in need. He lived his faith.

And on Wednesday, God called him home.

No one expected it. How could someone so healthy get sick and die so quickly? How could someone the doctors expected to fully recover suddenly die? God’s ways are not our ways. The Bible tells us that and I believe it. But knowing and believing doesn’t make the path any easier.

The Bible also tells us that if we give bad things to God, He will turn them to good. So those of us who are hurting fully expect God to do something magnificent with this dear man’s death. We expect to see God glorified again and again and again.

There are many people who talk about faith. There are many who claim to love Jesus, who write checks, who offer prayers. But there are very few it seems who actually live their faith. He was someone who did.

People keep saying what he good man he was. They’re right about that. He was quick to share his faith in Jesus. He was the first to extend a helping hand, a second chance, a smile and a prayer at that moment for anyone in need. That’s part of the legacy he leaves behind.

He had built a good life with his wife and daughters. He worked hard. But he would be the first to tell you that wasn’t what was most important. He wasn’t raised in wealth. He’d made plenty of wrong choices along his path. And sometimes he’d struggled to pay bills, to find a decent job, to keep moving forward when life was determined to knock him back down.

He gave all the credit to Jesus. He told everyone how Jesus had saved him again and again. He was just so open and honest about his faith. He never tried to hide his struggles, to make his journey appear easy. It wasn’t. But it was that journey which made him solid, dependable, true to what he believed deep inside.

I can’t even imagine what greeted him when he arrived home. Jesus surely was there. His Daddy was probably right beside Jesus. And, then, the receiving line of welcome was likely massive. My parents would have been there. They adored this young man. We all did.

Now there is nothing left by memories and an emptiness that will never truly go away. His wife, whose own faith runs deep, will take one step and then another as she struggles into a future she didn’t plan. She expected they had years to share. Don’t we always think we’ve got all the time in the world to create memories?

His daughters will continue toward adulthood without the guiding influence of the man who loved them fully and completely. Hopefully the lessons they saw him live will be their rudder as they navigate a world without him. His family will do all they can. It will never be enough.

He died without regrets. His family knew how much he loved them. They also understood how deeply he loved Jesus. That’s what they will cling to in the dark days to come.

What will people remember about you when you’re gone? I promise it’s not going to be about what you own or how much money you acquired. They’ll remember how you lived your life and how you loved the people who surrounded you. Will it be a good memory? Will you leave a lasting legacy or will it slowly become dust as time passes? The choice is yours but don’t wait to long to make it. There are no guarantees that tomorrow will ever come.

May 9, 2018

What Legacy Will You Leave?

One generation will declare Your works to the next and will proclaim Your mighty acts. – Psalm 145:4

Many years ago a conversation turned to church attendance. My parents tried to pretend that our family had always attended church. No. We hadn’t. I refused to go along with the lie.

My Dad brushed it off, saying we had only stopped for a few years. “My entire childhood,” I said. “I barely have any memories of going to church because I was so young when we stopped attending.”

He was embarrassed, trying to hold onto a lie even as he was confronted with the truth.

I started attending church when I went away to college. It was years later before they returned to a church. My parents wanted the world to believe they were dedicated to Christ. I wonder how all of our lives might have been changed if they’d truly lived the life they pretended to have lived.

They were good people. They were. And sometimes they were good to me. Other times they were cruel. They taught me to have compassion for what I can’t see in the lives of others. Appearances can be deceiving. There’s truth to that old cliché.

One of the few memories I have from those early church days came from a great aunt who taught me “Jesus loves me.” We sang that sweet song in Sunday school class. It was just the two of us because that little country church didn’t have any other children my age.

One grandmother begged for us to attend church with her. Mother wouldn’t hear of it. What was she afraid of? Why did she hate God so much? Maybe it wasn’t about Him but rather her need to resist her own mother. We all suffered for it.

I’ll never know the reason. I doubt she knew. In later years she grew stronger in her faith. Time has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? When we look in the mirror and realize most of our life has passed, we focus more on where we’ll go when it’s all through. But do our hearts really change?

None of this is about us. It’s about God. It’s always been about Him and His Glory. That offends us somehow. Wasn’t it supposed to be about us? Weren’t we supposed to be first?

I have no children. I have no one really. Yet I am focused on leaving a legacy in the women whose lives I touch. I want them to know that Jesus loves them. It’s a real, tangible love. When we can’t count on anything else, we can count on that.

Life’s journey is not easy. It was never intended to be. Mixed with joy and gladness comes darkness and pain. He is our companion, our security, our hope, through it all. Do we share that with others? Or do we stay silent rather than “offend” someone who wants to take credit where credit belongs to Him?

Every day brings opportunities to tell others about your faith. Do you? Do you give God credit for the good He brings to you? Do you praise Him even when life is falling apart and you can’t see the way?

What legacy will you leave behind?

May 7, 2018

What Will People Remember?

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

– Revelation 21:4

Sometimes life hurts. It doesn’t make sense. It leaves you with a gaping hole in your heart that you just know will never heal.

Our community lost one of its own in a horrific car wreck in Georgia. She fought it. She did. But she died anyway and nothing will ever be the same.

Some people touch lives. It’s that simple and that complicated. She was an emergency room physician noted for being kind and compassionate. The prayers and comments came from everywhere. She helped a mama tell her baby girl that she had a brain tumor. She told the survivor of a bad wreck that the other person had died. She was on the hard line between life and death so many times. Was she a good doctor? Absolutely! But what people talk about is her heart.

She left behind a husband and young children. They all attended our church. There will be questions. How could there not be? Mamas are supposed to come home to us, not leave for heaven before they have a chance to raise their babies and cuddle their grandbabies.

It’s a reminder for all of us. There’s no guarantee that we will have tomorrow. There’s no guarantee we’ll have the next hour. What really matters? Salvation, obviously. We need to know Jesus, to understand what He did for us, to accept His sacrifice. We need to live with the assurance that death can’t snatch us from Jesus. Death has no claim on us.

But what about those we leave behind? How will they remember us?  What kind of legacy are we leaving behind?

Rarely do we stop and consider that. We’re too focused on ourselves, our families, our immediate needs of the day to think about what people will remember if we’re suddenly gone.

Consider the people who have gone to heaven. When I think of Aunt Murl my mind sees her sitting quietly in a chair as she prayed. She was feisty and outspoken and she loved Jesus with a passion that can only come from deep, deep faith. I think of my cousin Peggy, so soft spoken and kind. She was smart and so very proud of her grandson, the preacher. She never stopped studying the Bible, never stopped learning and asking questions. I loved to spend time with her talking about Jesus. I miss that.

Of course, not all memories are wonderful. Some are filled with people who didn’t live a faith they proclaimed. Other memories are of people forever lost because they refused to believe. There are people who showed up on Sunday because it was expected. They never let a little church slow down their abundant lifestyle. What do we remember about them? How much alcohol they drank? How many times their spouse looked the other way at some “indiscretion?” How much money they made or where they lived? Things of the world pass away. They are not what leave lasting memories and change hearts for the better.

What do you want people to say about you when you are gone? Think about it. Then live your life accordingly.