“His people made no fire in His honor...and he departed with no one’s regret...they buried him not in the tombs of the kings.” 2 Chronicles 21:19, 20
He was a good man. I’ve been to many funerals and heard this statement from others that knew the man lying quietly at the front. I’ve also been to many funerals where I knew the man personally and could attest. A life lived well. A life lived serving others. A life lived pursuing goodness, fairness, and righteousness. A life lived pursuing the commands of Christ. A life lived in love. Even after that physical body expired and their Jesus-saved soul passed into Heaven to be with their creator, the remembrance of their life lived on. But on the flip side of that lies another class of life. A life lived serving self. A life lived fighting the world and the people in it to protect what was believed to be theirs. A life lived placing themselves as number one and placing everyone else a rung or two below. It’s sad to state but these kind of people pass away into eternity every day. Their lives leaving a memory behind as our first example did, but with very different results. In 2 Chronicles chapter 21 we see a life lived that fits into our second category. A life lived for self. A life lived rejecting God and rejecting others. A life lived not by the Holy commandments of God, but by custom commandments made and sought in selfish pride. And as a result, we get a rare glimpse of a memorial service left to the memory of evil king Jehoram, the son of good king Jehoshaphat. As he passes away, we see no fanfare, no fire in his honor, no burial place among the good kings, and in a bitter send off, we see that no one really even regretted his death. A life lived in a way that made no Godly impact, a life that left no love, a life that generated no joyful generations after. A life that could have left the love of God, simply left nothing. When you love like Jesus, you leave a mark. When you serve like Jesus, you leave a legacy. When you walk in the ways of Jesus Christ, you make a statement. A statement of, other’s lives are more important than mine. A statement of, loving all is the way of Christ. A statement of, seeing those around me learn about the saving grace of Jesus is of utmost importance. And in this way, in this view of what life is and what life really means, you can leave behind something that matters. A life pointing the way to Jesus Christ. The world needs more lives like this.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Proverbs 22:1
Commentaires