In my flesh, I’m hoping for a teary-eyed, snotty-nosed funeral that drags on for hours as people mourn my passing with long stories of what a great preacher, husband, father, and grandfather (fingers crossed) I was. Maybe there’ll be a scholarship named after me or even an endowed chair of preaching at a prestigious seminary in my honor. (My hubris knows no bounds!)

The truth is, once the “he’s gone” party is over, the world will keep spinning, time will march on, the sun’ll come up tomorrow, and all the other life moves on clichés. After all, as the old Soap Opera intro went, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

When Josiah died, they lamented his passing and celebrated his life accomplishments. God even had them written down so we could learn from them. But then the world kept spinning.

Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, was made king in his dad’s place. He lasted three months before Pharaoh Neco, whose archers had shot his dad, deposed him and made Judah a tributary state to Egypt. From there it went downhill like the proverbial snowball until the king of the Chaldeans captured Jeruslaem and carried its inhabitants off into slavery.

The fact is none of us have any control over what happens next. But we are accountable for our lives now. As others have observed, we are responsible for the dash between the dates on our headstone.

That’s what Josiah’s ancestor, King Solomon, finally figured out. After all his ponderings and musings, adventures and misadventures, here’s what he had to say.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Though not perfect, the whole of Josiah’s life was lived like that. Still, his influence seemed negligible on his immediate generations. But now, centuries later in June 2018, Josiah’s example is having a profound impact on us at First Magnolia.

How ever many moments you may live, live every moment Coram Deo – before the face of God. Then, when eternity dawns, you might just be amazed at the difference your life made in the generations that followed.