Your Legacy

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:15

Last week I was having lunch with Rev. Sam and June Tonomura. June was sharing that they had recently attended a graveside service at Green Hills Cemetery in Palos Verdes. She said that she and Rev. Sam had bought their burial plots there in the 1960’s and how the price of those plots had really risen in value over the past 50 years.

Often times, when I officiate burial services, I get there early and try to read some of the inscriptions that were on the tombstones scattered throughout the cemetery. Some tombstone inscriptions read, “I told you I was sick!” One lady had the recipe for her favorite dessert inscribed. Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices, had “That’s all folk” written on his tomb.

But when we look at Moses, the valued leader of Israel, the bible tells us that there was no gravesite. God had already told Moses the specific circumstances of his death before he died (Deut. 32:48–52). Moses would not be allowed to enter the promised land because of his disobedience at Meribah, but he saw it from a distance. He would climb Mount Nebo, see the land, and then “be gathered to your people,” an idiom for death. This is a comforting example of God’s grace, extended even to a leader who’d publicly dishonored Him.

The final three verses of Deuteronomy 34 are, in essence, Moses’ epitaph (vv. 10–12): “No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt...No one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.”

Thought For Today: Have you ever walked through a cemetery and noticed the inscriptions? What would you want your epitaph to be? What would it say about your life, your achievements, or your character? What would it say about your relationship with the Lord? What will be your legacy?

Today’s Prayer Focus: As you reflect upon that legacy, begin praying that your life will be a reflection of the person you desire to be and the person that God desires you to be. Deo Volente.