This last week I went to a funeral. Wait. What? This is St Valentines Day, what on earth am I talking about funerals for? Bear with me…
Thankfully, it wasn’t just any funeral, it was the celebration of a life well lived for Jesus. There was clapping and laughing and songs being played. Wait. What? Yes, praise the Lord when the Saints go marching in.
Mind you, I’ve been to around four funerals in the last twelve months and this was definitely the closest to a ‘celebration of life’ that I’d been to, and the one I shed most tears in also. An old preacher gone to be with his Saviour and Lord. Amen.
Watching and listening to the eulogy, one by his brother and another by his two sons, I wondered what it would be like at my own funeral and listening to someone talk about me up there at the podium, what would they have to say?
I know this isn’t a new thought and that this type of statement has been said through through, ad nauseam. BUT…
If you are reading this then you have the opportunity that the four people whose lives I’ve celebrated this past year no longer have: You can re-write your own eulogy.
Now, I use the term “re-write”, because if you don’t change anything today, then nothing changes and your eulogy is to be written as is. BUT (and that’s a big but), should you wish, you could do something crazy like this:
Think about, or even better, write out in third person, your life right up to today (I’ll spare you the lengthy example, I’m sure you get the idea). BUT (there’s that but again), then add the words, “At the age of [insert current age here], they made a radical decision to [insert abandoned dream/desire/or new passion here] and their life was dramatically changed from that point forward… “
Think about this: Generally speaking, we have absolute control over:
- What we think – negative or positive thoughts
- What we feel – our emotions of anger, passion, love, hate
- What we see – our perspective on life, and what we set before our eyes.
- How we react – to situations & circumstances beyond our control
God has blessed us with this power so that we CAN make changes when we need to. You CAN be better than you are today. You CAN trust God for your today and tomorrow. You CAN learn something new and upskill your life, mind and spirit. You CAN be closer to God than you are now.
What does this have to do with St Valentines Day?
Nothing, except the fact that it’s your loved ones that will be speaking these words – and RIGHT NOW you have the opportunity to put the words right into their mouth. Make it easy for them to speak good words.
The choices are yours to make.
Job 42:16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.
May the joy of the Lord be yours today and always.
Be blessed.
Graham – Headed For Heaven.