At the writing of this article I am preparing to go do my second funeral in Lincolnton, GA in less than two weeks. Two sweet, godly ladies, in their 90’s have been promoted to Heaven and I have been blessed with the honor of presiding over their funerals. While the trip there and back is not my favorite thing to do, especially under these circumstances, it is something that I am honored to be a part of knowing the lives of these two ladies.
It occurred to me as I considered these two funerals that these two ladies really preached their own funerals! Don’t worry I am not going crazy (or crazier) and no they did not have any video messages to be played at their funerals. The truth is, their lives were lived in such a way that they gave me something worth saying at their funerals. I didn’t have to dig around to try to find something positive to say about them. Both of these ladies were active in their church, loved the Lord, loved their families, and were a living reflection of God’s love to those around them.
As I was thinking about this it dawned on me that everyone preaches their own funeral! You see how you live your life is the message that will ultimately be spoken over your casket or urn at your funeral. What will the preacher say when that day comes? Will he find it a struggle to say something good about you or will you have lived in such a way that he will be able to say that your life was well lived, and you honored God with your life.
You can’t change how you have lived to this point in your life, but you can change how you live going forward. I want to finish this life strong, sprinting toward the finish line! I want to give whomever preaches my funeral something worth talking about not just nice platitudes that really add up to nothing. I want the man who preaches my funeral to be able to point people to Jesus through my life because I lived like a follower of Jesus and not just a fan.
Consider what you would like for the preacher to honestly be able to say about you and start living out your final message. After all, death is something all of us will face unless the Lord returns before we die. I want to honor God with whatever days He gives me on this earth so that even in dying others see Jesus in me. How about you?
In His Amazing Grace,
Dan