Standing the Test of Time

 

 

Ecclesiastes 2:9-11  New International Version (NIV)

⁹ I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

¹⁰ I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
    I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
    and this was the reward for all my toil.

¹¹ Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
    and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
    nothing was gained under the sun.

The psalmist wrote, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”  - Psalm 71:18 (NIV)

 

My husband and I have begun researching our family ancestry. During this process we have visited many cemeteries to take pictures of family grave markers. Some of the markers are simple, small headstones. Others are grand monuments. Many quote a scripture verse, or say how much the person was loved and will be missed. The passing of time, however, has been an enemy to these well-intentioned memorials. Many are fading, falling down, broken, and cracked. Some plots are covered up with vegetation, and not all monuments are readable.

If King David and King Solomon had grand burial sites, time and generations have hidden the locations. But their failures and victories, their works of faith that live on in the psalms and writings in the Bible, remind us of our need for God. Memorials of stone, marble, and brass may not last.

But our life of faith and the example we set will be passed down from generation to generation — a permanent monument that will stand the test of time.

 

The Author  Shelby H. Grant (North Carolina, USA)

 

Prayer

Dear Father, help us to live in a way that those who come after us will find in our lives true examples of faith in you. Amen.
 

Prayer focus   Cemetery caretakers