Have you ever heard the phrase “history repeats itself ”? Unfortunately, that statement is often true in the negative sense. Most of us will never be able to spend thousands of dollars to take a flight to some exotic location, stay in a hotel, and see the glamorous sights of a faraway country.
If you access the internet then you can save all that money, redeem all that time, and avoid unfamiliar and costly foods without leaving home.
Take a tour through Westminster Abbey in London. Here you will find the bodily remains of British monarchs such as Queen Elizabeth I and her father, King Henry VIII, whose earthly remains are housed in a massive tomb.
In another section of the Abbey you’ll see the gaudy resting place of a British hero who fought against General George Washington during “the Seven Years War,” as they call America’s successful fight against the tyranny of their British Crown, King George III. There’s also a tribute to George Washington. No hard feelings.
Roaming farther through the twisting halls and multiple levels, there is a tribute to Sir Winston Churchill. In one section there is a one-thousandyear- old door. Well, we don’t have any doors that old!
Many well-known poets and servants of the Crown are listed as “honorable mentions.” No ostentatious final resting places for their bones.
It’s likely that most of us won’t have such honors in death. After all, that kind of material monument won’t mean anything to us after we’re gone. The Bible gives us hope of better things in death.
In 1 Corinthians 15:16, Paul writes, “If you have hoped only in this life you are of all men most to be pitied.” He knew that resurrection is real.
Paul also wrote, “I have a strong desire to die and be with Christ. That would be so much better for me” (Philippians 1:23). He further states that whatever this world can give him is worthless. It is garbage by comparison to having Jesus (Phil. 3:7-11).
Paul was a great man of God, but he didn’t work to gain selfrighteousness. He wanted “the kind of righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” in already having Jesus. Paul needed no honorable mention through a monument to his life. He’d thrown out any worldly hindrances for salvation in Christ.
The apostle had a great confidence in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Are you as assured as Paul? He wanted only to honor the Lord. Does your “honorable mention” come from God?