Over the past four weeks, three people who were influential in my life have passed away. Each loss has affected me differently, but together they have caused me to think more seriously about the brevity of life and the legacy we leave behind. Death has a way of putting life into perspective. So much of what occupies our attention from day to day suddenly seems less important when we are reminded that our time in this world is limited. Scripture says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
This has caused me to ask myself a simple but searching question: How would I like to be remembered when my time comes to leave this world? There are many things for which a person might hope to be remembered. Some wish to be remembered for their achievements, their career, their possessions, or the things they built. Others hope to be remembered for their kindness, generosity, or the difference they made in the lives of others.
For me, above everything else, I would like to be remembered for my faith. I would like people to remember that I believed God, trusted His Word, loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and sought to remain faithful to Him. Not that I lived a perfect life, for none of us does, but that the direction of my life pointed towards Christ.
When the Apostle Paul approached the end of his earthly life, he could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). What a testimony to leave behind: “I have kept the faith.” Ultimately, our legacy is not something we begin preparing at the end of our lives. We are building it now. It is being formed through the decisions we make, the words we speak, the people we influence, and, above all, the things to which we give our hearts.
One day, others will remember us and speak about the kind of people we were. My prayer is that, when that day comes for me, among everything else that might be said, this will remain: he believed God, he loved Christ and he kept the faith. The passing of these three people has reminded me that life is short, eternity is real, and the way we live today matters. So I leave you with the same question I have been asking myself: How would you like to be remembered?
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