Beloved Friends in Christ,

"Imagine, if you would, being allowed to witness your own funeral." This is an exercise that I was asked to perform while at an evangelism workshop some years back. The speaker went on—perhaps you can try it too. "Imagine that at your funeral, three individuals get up to speak, each one of them giving a eulogy, that is, sharing their reflections on the sort of person you were. One of the three is your son, another a close working associate, the third a member of your church. Are you imagining the scene? Do you have three individuals in mind?... What would you want them to say about you?"

"Begin with this end in mind." Begin your life today by pursuing those things that you would like to have accomplished by the end of your life. So often we busy ourselves with the smaller—less important—things of life. How easy it is to become so involved in the smaller things that we never get around to that which is truly important to us and others.

The shame of this is not that others may not say what we would like to have them say of us at our funeral. Rather, it is that by not doing the truly important things in life, the lives of others and our lives themselves will be lacking.

So what if we have a clean car? So what if we have the latest home entertainment equipment? So what if we know all the latest sports statistics? Who really cares if we are remembered as a lover of cars, sports, music, gardening…?

I believe we would rather be remembered as someone who truly cared for people; someone who was a leader in serving others in a sacrificial way; or someone who loved his Lord Jesus Christ so much that others could not but notice it. To be remembered in such a way suggests a person who made a difference in the lives of others.

So imagine again, if you will, your own funeral, listening to one of the eulogies; and this is what you hear. "He (she) was the best thing that ever happened to me. He cared for me. He helped me through difficult times, and by his example and with words of love, he introduced me to the One through whom forgiveness is given and eternal life is offered."

Friends, we have a race to run. We have a life to live and, by the grace of God, that life can have a positive effect on many. And know this, that in our effort to share with others the very love with which we have been loved in Christ Jesus, God–the God of grace–will run the race with us.

In His service,

Pastor Richard A. Frey