A Day's Legacy

Have you ever wondered how your obituary will read?

Sometimes I think about it. Sometimes I wonder what kind of things will be said about me. Will I be remembered as:
A good mom?
A sweet wife?
A faithful and kind daughter, sister, sister-in-law?
A lover of Jesus?

I would hope to be known for all these things, but more then anything I would want to be known for living a life on fire for the Lord. I read an obituary today of a friend who graduated last Saturday. I was amazed by the things this young man accomplished and I cried as I read it. I cried because this man will be missed and because he was so dedicated to the Lord. At the age of twenty-five this young man had done more in his life for Jesus then I think I have in my thirty-two years.

Now, I know my life has gone in a different direction then his did. He had a call on his heart by God to reach people for Jesus. I am not called to be a missionary, I am called to be a wife and mom and writer. But what struck me was that whatever Daylon Harrington set out to do he did it with passion. Whether it was skiing down a snow capped mountain, dancing across a ballroom floor, or flying a plane to different countries he did it to the glory of Christ.

I had to ask myself, do I do that? Do I passionately enter into what the Lord puts in front of me to do, however joyful or difficult the circumstances may be? Do I live my life so abandoned to Christ, letting every word I speak or write honor Him? To be honest, no I don't. Not completely.

I look at the things I let occupy my mind and arrest my attention that don't really matter. When I die will very many people be moved by the size of my hips? Sounds pretty silly in light of eternity, huh? Will people remember me as a woman who loved Jesus and her family or will they remember me as a woman who entangled herself with the world, forgetting who she was in Christ? I'll tell you what, over the last couple of years the Lord has been showing me just how unimportant the values of this world are. What Jesus tells us is important, the world tells us its not. In the world's eyes my life looks like a waste. But my life isn't governed by this world...

Or is it?

I am frequently forgetful when it comes to the importance of Christ and I let the world tell me that I should be living for me, myself, and I.

But then something happens in my life, like the death of a wonderful, godly man, and I'm allowed a brief glimpse of Heaven and its KING. My earthly thoughts are shattered and I am reminded of how short and meaningless this life is without Christ. My priorities are shifted once again and I am reminded that my life lived fully for Christ matters in eternity, not the distractions this world has to offer.

Someday my life will begin in the next realm and end in this one. I don't know if it will end in a nanosecond like Daylon's or if it will be years of trusting Christ through an illness like my friend, Shari. Whichever one, it is my prayer is that my obituary will read like the theirs did and my life will be one lived fully, passionately, and lovingly for my Savior.

How will yours read?