My high school's free planner was pretty ridiculous. I loved my planners, and I kept all of them -- they not only document the dates of most of the significant events of my high school career, but I also gave them awesome covers (do the words "fairy hippo baby" make you as happy as they make me?). But these were those school planners that had inane "quizzes" in the corners about topics such as, "Are you a responsible person?" and "Are you a kind person?", determining the answers through questions that most likely involved baby whales, trees, and recycling (not that there's anything wrong with that).
One of these weekly "assignments" was actually rather meaningful. I don't think it was an original idea, as I've heard it again since, but I liked it.
The silly little box in the corner of the page that was only useful when I was extremely bored...asked me to write my own obituary.
I never did it. I recall some thoughts about Mt. Everest and bungee jumping, but beyond that I never put much thought into it. I was in tenth grade, I had forever to figure out what I was going to do with my life.
But as I've watched people around me, I've discovered that so much of what we dedicate our time to will be so useless at the end of our lives. The time to decide how we want to be remembered is now, and the time to start living that way is now.
What will people say one day, hopefully years from now, when they consider your life?
Imagine the following scenes -- people at funerals, lining up one-by-one to explain how the person who passed on has impacted their lives.
"Jimmy had so much stuff," a young man says tearfully. "The amount of money in his bank account was really meaningful to me."
"Bob had so many Facebook friends." *sniff* "That changed my life."
"Annie's clothes will really be missed. She had the cutest shoes."
"Janie went so many places, I didn't really know her. But oh!" a woman exclaims with a sob, "she had really great Facebook pictures. I'll miss those Facebook pictures."
"I think what I'll miss most about Audrey...is her thigh gap." A tissue comes out. "She was just the perfect size!" he wails, shaking his head.
Of course that's ridiculous. Of course people aren't going to talk about the number of Facebook friends you had, and they'd better not talk about a thigh gap (which, by the way, I'd never heard of until I came to college). That's just wrong. These are not the things that matter. These are not the things that last.
So why is it that these are the sorts of things we spend our time trying to achieve?
"Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." | Jeremiah 9:23-24
How about this instead?
"He forgave me when I didn't expect him to, undeservedly and unreservedly." (Col. 3:13)
"She valued me above herself." (Phil. 2:3)
"He did everything with a joyful spirit, no matter how degrading or mundane the task." (Phil. 2:14)
"She lived in absolute freedom." (2 Cor. 3:17)
"He introduced me to Jesus Christ." (Mat. 28:19)
"She loved me as Christ loves." (Eph. 5:2)
"He desired nothing in this world more than Jesus Christ." (Ps. 73:25)
"She feared God, and became fearless." (Is. 8:12)
Here is my challenge to you.
What do you want people to say about you, at the end of your life? Looking back, what will they remember? What do you want them to remember?
And once you've figured out what you want that to be, go after it. Stop at nothing. If it is to be your legacy, make it a strong one. If it's Facebook friends, get adding. If it's a thigh gap, get at those squats.
If it's Jesus Christ, get on your face.
Let it be said of us that we gave to reach the dying
Let it be said of us that our hearts belonged to Jesus
Let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life
Let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing
"What is the secret to great living? Entire separation to Christ and devotion to Him. Thus speaks every man and woman whose life has made more than a passing flicker in the spiritual realm. It is the life that has no time for trifling that counts." | Amy Carmichael
*I couldn't think of anything exciting. I am currently taking suggestions for the title of this post. Let me know. If I use your idea, I'll give you a virtual hug (oh yeah, get excited).
