I reacted interestingly to a sermon I heard this past Sunday. Although this was not the topic, the preacher’s remarks made me think about my own obituary. It seems that the inventor of the dynamite got a chance to read his own obituary in a national newspaper, but he didn’t like what it said about him. The question that this little-known fact made me ponder was how God would respond to mine? Better yet, how would I react to my obituary? If you could design and write your epitaph, wouldn’t you want it to reflect somehow a life devoted to the Lord? I heard on the radio that the greatest enlightenment is to know the will of God. The greatest achievement is to do the will of God. If you could craft the truth about your life today, to make sure that when people spoke at your funeral, they would speak about a level of service for the Lord that was absolutely true, what would you immediately begin to do differently? In the case of the inventor of dynamite, we now have the Nobel Prize(s) because he didn’t want to be remembered as the inventor of wholesale slaughter. Because he read his obituary before he died, Mr. Nobel was able to do something to positively affect how others might think of him once he was actually dead.
If they wrote your obituary today, would it please you? Would it please God? If not, do you know why not?
In this instance, for me, the thought of death made me consider life, mine. What had I done for God lately? Am I doing anything out of love for Him, rather than out of fear of consequence? Do I follow rules because I believe in them, or do I follow them because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t? That’s an interesting question if you’re talking about God’s rules. Is my obedience to God solely based on fear? Or, put in another perspective, is my obedience based on love?
I know that whatever they say in my obituary, God will know the truth. And if the truth be told, we all want to be remembered fondly. The truth that new life starts at death made me think about this. Your quality of life is influenced by what your spiritual obituary says. If you know that now, what can you do to help write the words? I just thought it would be a beneficial exercise to commit, from today forward, to crafting your obituary by living your life according to the principles you would be proudest to show God. You pick yours and I’ll pick mine. We both know that we will be held accountable at the moment of our new life after death. I think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to influence the dash between the dates of our physical birth and our physical death. We have no control over those two points in life and death. But that dash will serve us well for eternity. It will be what makes up your obituary. So please pay attention.
God certainly is and may He bless and keep you each and every day.
