A Christ-Honoring Epitaph
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. – Psalm 145:4
As a pastor, I sometimes do graveside services. When I go through graveyards, I find myself looking at the headstones. Have you ever done that and looked at the epitaphs? As you are looking at the epitaphs, you’ll realize that some of them are very interesting.
I came across several as I was looking at the Internet this last week. I want to share some of them with you. One of the epitaphs engraved on a tombstone said, “Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Merv Griffin was a producer of many game shows and other TV shows. The epitaph on his tombstone reads like this, “I will not be right back after this message.”
I found this humorous one for a man by the name of Jonathan Blake. He was a car accident victim in Uniontown, Pennsylvania some years ago. It says, “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake. He stepped on the gas instead of the brake.” Rodney Dangerfield’s epitaph says, “There goes the neighborhood.” A final one said, “Here lies the body of Mary Anne Bent. She kicked up her heels and a way she went.”
On a more serious note, though, have you ever considered what you want to be written on your tombstone? What words would you like to represent the legacy you left while you were on this earth? It’s a pretty heavy question once you start to really consider it. But I believe it’s one we should all be thinking about. After all, the way we answer that question should determine the way we want to live our lives now. Our answer should dictate how we treat people, what we prioritize, how we spend our time, and what kind of influence we have on others.
The Lord wants us to make an impact for Him while we’re still on earth. That’s why when you become a Christian you don’t immediately get raptured up into heaven. You stay here so that you might be a light for Christ and point others to Jesus. My prayer is that this will be the motivation for the way you live each day and that when the time comes for your epitaph to be written, the words will reflect the legacy of a dedicated follower of Jesus.
As a pastor, I sometimes do graveside services. When I go through graveyards, I find myself looking at the headstones. Have you ever done that and looked at the epitaphs? As you are looking at the epitaphs, you’ll realize that some of them are very interesting.
I came across several as I was looking at the Internet this last week. I want to share some of them with you. One of the epitaphs engraved on a tombstone said, “Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Merv Griffin was a producer of many game shows and other TV shows. The epitaph on his tombstone reads like this, “I will not be right back after this message.”
I found this humorous one for a man by the name of Jonathan Blake. He was a car accident victim in Uniontown, Pennsylvania some years ago. It says, “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake. He stepped on the gas instead of the brake.” Rodney Dangerfield’s epitaph says, “There goes the neighborhood.” A final one said, “Here lies the body of Mary Anne Bent. She kicked up her heels and a way she went.”
On a more serious note, though, have you ever considered what you want to be written on your tombstone? What words would you like to represent the legacy you left while you were on this earth? It’s a pretty heavy question once you start to really consider it. But I believe it’s one we should all be thinking about. After all, the way we answer that question should determine the way we want to live our lives now. Our answer should dictate how we treat people, what we prioritize, how we spend our time, and what kind of influence we have on others.
The Lord wants us to make an impact for Him while we’re still on earth. That’s why when you become a Christian you don’t immediately get raptured up into heaven. You stay here so that you might be a light for Christ and point others to Jesus. My prayer is that this will be the motivation for the way you live each day and that when the time comes for your epitaph to be written, the words will reflect the legacy of a dedicated follower of Jesus.
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5 Comments
My daughter is on Hospice now. There will not be a headstone as she's being cremated. But if there was one, I think it should say, "Just a girl who loves Jesus!"
I would like my headstone to say something like "She lived her life for Jesus "
Janice, that is beautiful! My heart goes out to you. What a journey. Praise the Lord for the promise of Heaven's reunion.
Beautiful, Janice! God bless you and your daughter.
Reminds me of my FnL. He always said he wanted written on his head stone in small print, "If you can read this, you're standing on my chest". LOL