Memory of the Just (Proverbs 10:7)

2022-12-10

What do you want to be remembered for? How would you want your epitaph to read? Thinking about this will identify your true values. Such an exercise also helps you start living for that purpose. As a Christian, I would want to be remembered as God-honoring, which is what my given name means in Greek. Consider Solomon’s proverb:

The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. (Proverbs 10:7)

Consider examples that amplify this truth. My late sister-in-law’s testimony of the Lord still lives on over four years after her death. Her memory still points people to Jesus Christ in her character and witness. This is who you want to be like. We all know that she had no desire to make a name for herself, yet her name is remembered, and God is still glorified for her service for the Lord in this life because of this remembrance.

On the contrary, consider the name of a wicked man, Adolf Hitler. This man was so wicked with all the innocent blood he spilled and all the torture of his own countrymen, that 77 years after his death his name is a byword for evil. Recently, a rockstar and aspiring politician foolishly stated that he liked and appreciated the cruel dictator of Germany. This association alone was enough for many to distance themselves from him.

So, I ask again, what do you want to be remembered for? You want to be remembered for what you do for the Lord Jesus Christ, because that memory will cause others to turn to the Savior and eternal life after you are gone. Now we must order the rest of our lives to that end.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)