Lessons From a Funeral

I haven't been to very many funerals, but I always find it interesting to hear what people say about the departed.  Of course, most of the time it makes you wish you'd known the person better and enjoyed them more while they were alive, and rightly so -- there's never enough time in this world to get to know someone as well as you want to.  Thank God we have eternity!  But I think we ought to learn from the completed lives of others and seek to live in a way that will give others something to say about us when our own lives are finished.  Will I be known for loving God above all?  Will people remember me not just as a nice person, but as a genuine friend?  How many lives will I impact for eternity?  And most importantly, how do I need to live now to build a legacy worth leaving?

The passing of a child of God should always be a glorious celebration of a race well run, and a challenge to those still running -- "Keep on, and finish well!"

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Hebrews 12:1

Better to go to the house of mourning . . . for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:2