Words to be remembered by

I was having my quiet time this morning which has been much too eratic lately. As I read the Word of God, I almost always say this at some point either out loud or to myself, "I LOVE THIS...why is it so hard to be in God's Word more frequently?"

Well, I experienced that again this morning. I've been reading out of Acts and just chewing on a few verses sometimes and on a few chapters or stories other times. Today, as I was reading in Acts 11 about Barnabus being sent to Antioch to see what was going on with so many coming to the Lord, I was stopped by the way Luke described Barnabus..."for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord."

It reminded me of a question I had just asked my "really" small group of young men on Thursday night, "What do you want to be known by or said about you when your days on this earth are over." When I was preparing to meet with them and thought of asking this often-asked question, I was reminded that I've often struggled with this. There are a lot of things I'd like people to say about me or to think of when they think of me. Things like...."he was a good father and husband" or "he cared about others"..."he was kind and gentle"..."we enjoyed being with him"..."he made everyone around him better"..."he gave of himself"...just to rattle off a few. But, when I read those words that Luke wrote about Barnabus I stopped and thought, "I think that's it! If those things can be said of me, the other things will follow. Yeah...those are the words I'd like to be remembered by." I guess if those are the words I want to be remembered by, there is no better time than today to start living according to them.

What about you? How do you want to be remembered? Is it God honoring? Is it noble? Does it include something about reaching the lost for Jesus Christ? I guess at this stage in my life after trying to achieve joy and happiness in many other ways, it all boils down to this for me..."for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord."