I have to chuckle at how many of you probably clicked the link to this blog thinking I've lost my mind. LOL. No, no, I'm as sane -- or as insane -- as I've always been. And no, I'm not dying and writing my obit. At least, I don't think I am.
What I am, however, is sobered by the deaths in the news this week. A teacher murdered by a 12-year old student who then killed himself. Another teacher, 24-years old, beaten and stabbed to death by a student. A 12-year old girl who took her own life because she couldn't take the bullying anymore. A head-on collision on a local Interstate that killed both drivers. A WWII plane crash that killed two people. On and on. Every day, every hour, every minute, you can turn on your TV or your computer and see news stories about the untimely death of average people.
Of course we all know and love people who have died. Old age, cancer and other diseases destroy our bodies. Death is a part of life. It isn't something anyone can avoid, and many of us won't have a clue that it's knocking on our door the day it arrives. Car accidents, shootings, and a whole host of other events can bring an end to a life in a matter of moments.
So, this brings me to the title of this post. Knowing that life is not something you can cling to, what do you want your obituary to tell the world about you when you die? Because you will die someday. For some, it will be today. For others, tomorrow. None of us knows for sure. All we can be certain of it will happen one day.
I keep the obituaries of my Mom and Dad in my Bible and read through them every so often. Sometimes it strikes me as odd that a person's life is condensed into a few paragraphs in the newspaper when they die. Daddy and Mom each lived 85 years on this planet. Can a few lines about their families and careers really give us an understanding of all that their lives encompassed? Of who they were down deep?
No. There's just no way a few lines of print can ever achieve that. But there is a man in the Bible whose obituary, if you will, was even shorter, and yet when I read it I know everything about him that was important.
"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. All together, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." Genesis 5:21-24
Enoch walked faithfully with God.
That pretty much sums it up, don't you think? I mean, what more is there to say? That he was a farmer, or a carpenter, or a grape grower? That he enjoyed reading, music and jokes? We know who his father was. We know he had a lot of children. But does any of that tells us the heart of the man, of what made this man tick?
Enoch walked faithfully with God. To me that means he was an obedient son to his parents. He was a faithful husband to his wife. He loved his children and taught them about God. He helped his fellow man. He worked hard and enjoyed the life God had blessed him with. It means he loved God with all his heart, soul and mind.
My hope and prayer is that when it comes time for my obituary to be written, my life can be summed up in five words: Michelle walked faithfully with God.
How about you? What do you want your obituary to say?
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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Philippines, Russia, Malaysia, Canada, China, South Korea, Ukraine
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