Tag Archives: funeral

Planning Your Legacy

Posted on by under Choices, God

Journal 2006

Our pastor challenged us to consider what we would want people to say about us at our memorial service or what we’d like imprinted on our tombstone. If we know the end, the goal of our life, we can work backward through the process to plan how to get there. For example, if you want to be known for being a generous person, you’ll want to practice giving now. If you want people to remember you for your kindness, then you’ll stamp out cruel remarks now.

At first, I thought I’d like my tombstone to read: “She loved God.” But on further reflection, I think the better epitaph would be: “Wonder of wonders—God loved her!”

A 2025 Update. I was meditating recently on George Beverly Shea’s hymn “The Wonder of It All” with the words “… but the wonder of it all is that God loves me.” https://youtu.be/MUBZy_6xUgY?si=l-3emAXwJLepC8Zx

And then I came across this note in Amazing Grace—366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck. “After attending a service where the hymn ‘O How I love Jesus’ was sung repeatedly, [Philip P.] Bliss thought, ‘Have I not been singing enough about my poor love for Jesus and shall I not rather sing of His great love for me?'” That’s when he penned the hymn, “Jesus Loves Even Me.” https://youtu.be/i0zljm3KMSA?si=zzmBqiuv_QnXiIqI

Apparently, I’m not the first to have this thought!

Please Come to My Funeral

Posted on by under Choices, God

He passed away, to no one’s regret (II Chronicles 21:20 NIV).

This verse, to me, is one of the saddest statements in the Bible. Jehoram was a bad, bad king who killed all his brothers, put back all the idols that his father had removed, and forsook God. His punishment? His whole family gets wiped out, his possessions captured, and he dies a horrible death of an intestinal disease. And the sad end of his life? His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors (v. 19). No funeral memorial for him! Ouch!

What makes a man choose a good or godly heart? It’s more than just his parents’ example. Jehoram had a good father. But maybe he had an absent father. Perhaps something burned him as a child. Was he arrogant because he was the first-born and spoiled? Was he picked on by his brothers? Did his lustful appetites draw him into sin, and he followed after forbidden fruit? What need of his heart went unmet that he would deliberately close his eyes to the victories he witnessed in his father’s time?

Memorial services tend to focus on the positives of a person’s accomplishments or character. We say we don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but how awful to have lived so poorly that no one shows up at all!

rachel (white) berryI want to go to my grave with no unfinished business. I don’t even want to go through today with unfinished business of the heart. I’m so thankful for my godly heritage. I want to learn my lessons from my parents—follow their godly choices, reject any inconsistencies, love everyone—to the end. You all are invited to my funeral!

Whom do you want to come to your funeral?