We are coming up on Memorial Day weekend. I hope we will all pause to remember those courageous Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
I like visiting cemeteries. It’s fun to imagine what was going on during the time of a certain person’s death. I like to stand near the head stone and imagine myself being in the moment. Is that weird? I have visited some old graves in the Northeast United States, but compared to some grave sites I’ve visited in Israel, the cemeteries in the U.S. are very young.
I’ve seen tombstones of war veterans, teenagers, infants. Fancy markers and some very simple. Some tombstones declare a loyalty to a certain organization (Masons, Loggers Association, for example) and others have a simple caption “loving mother.” I once saw a tombstone in Bandara,TX made out of a skateboard! For me, a cemetery is an interesting place. Now you know I am weird!
My 97 year old grandmother already has her grave marker in place. My grandfather died in 1973 so his name, birth- and death-dates are already on his side of the tombstone. On grandma’s side, it has her name, birth-date and a “dash.” Grandma is still living in the “dash.”
Here is reality, we have very little control over most of the information on our tombstone. Someone else chooses our name and God chooses our birth- and death-dates. So all we can do is determine what we do with the “dash” in between.
In Revelation 2:10, Jesus says to each of us, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
I want my “dash” to count for Christ. How about you? I take the Apostle Paul’s challenge: I want to make the most of my time here on earth (Ephesians 5:16).
I heard an old quote by someone, I have no clue who it was...”One life to live and soon it will pass. Only the things done for God will last.”
Lord, make my “dash” count for you!
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