“20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,” – Acts 20:20
If you knew this Sunday that this was the last time you were ever going to be in church, what would you say? What message would you leave? Or if this was your last day on earth? What testimony would you give? What would you write for others to read and remember you by?
In the 20th chapter of Acts Paul, the Apostle was in just such a position. He was headed for Jerusalem, and he knew that he would never again return to the church he had started in Ephesus. The verses sixteen through thirty-eight are an account of the message he left them with; his last message to the church he loved so dear. Measuring our lives on the scales of eternity has a way of producing a benchmark of only that which is most important. If you were given just a few moments, a piece of paper, and a pen; I doubt you would waste words. I cannot imagine many would include in their last testimony the game they won, or the superb golf match they played. Would we care to speak of the car we drive, boat we own, or our extensive shoe collection? The point is the frivolity of life would not likely find a place within the margins of your last testimony. It is far more likely that you would write about the things unseen, for that which we cannot see is that which is most important to us when we place our lives against the backdrop of eternity. I don’t know about you, but my letter would be filled with words of love, the love I have for my friends and family and the love that I have for God. Any counsel would be plain and simple, read the scriptures and follow its instructions; make sure that your soul is ready to meet judgment. The things needful to life (food, clothing, shelter, transportation, etc.) are not life itself. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, gave us the parable of the rich man who had so much, that he needed more storage. Then once he had a grand surplus, he then thought he could take his ease. Jesus said, “thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” How many spend night and day laying up treasures in their 401K’s; spending their life’s breath building up a cushion to one day “take their ease on.” How can we even be sure that we will live to see our day of ease? How much more to lay up our treasures in heaven, to spend our days in the service of the Lord? May God help us to search the scriptures, allow them to winnow our lives, and keep ever in mind the life to come.
The sobering reality is that whatever you write on your last testimony will carry little weight unless a life backs it up. When the Apostle Paul spoke those last words to the church, he spoke words that mirrored a life. In truth, this is our testimony, the life we leave behind, it is not transcribed on a page or drafted in nouns and verbs. It is written with our own decisions. So, let us examine ourselves and ask, what are we writing?
