Seeing the End of our lives.
Have you ever thought about writing your own obituary? Alfred Nobel did. The Swedish chemist had made millions by inventing and manufacturing dynamite. In 1888 Alfred's brother Ludvig died in France. As Alfred read the obituary in a French newspaper, his grief turned to dismay and consternation. What he was reading was not his brother's obituary, but his own! (The newspaper editor had confused the brothers.) "The Merchant of Death is
Dead!" is what the headline proclaimed. Alfred Nobel's obituary described a man who had filled his coffers with wealth by helping people kill one another.From that day on, Alfred Nobel was a changed man. Troubled by what the editor had written regarding him, Nobel in a sense wrote his own obituary by purposing in his heart to use his wealth to alter his legacy. When he died eight years later, in 1896, Alfred left more than $9,000,000 to fund awards for those whose work would benefit humanity and not destroy it. Today we know those awards as the Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel had a singular op-
portunity: to look at the appraisal of his life at its end and still have a chance to alter it.Isn't it true that you and I have but one brief opportunity in this lifetime on earth-to make a difference? James 4:14 describes the span of our years as "a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." If we could see just five minutes beyond death, we'd know exactly how we should have lived here and now. But then it will be too late!
Principles in God’s word about giving are pointed and penetrating. It is a privilege and a great responsibility to give God’s way. Jesus speaks more about money related topics than He does heaven or hell, only the topic of love tops the list. God tells us that we are aliens and strangers in this world (1Pet.2:11-12) and we need to continually remind ourselves that God owns everything and that we are His managers. We cannot take our stuff with us and we need to see the end of our lives and plan accordingly. Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a trailer behind it with the possessions of the deceased? Since you can’t take it with you it’s important to send it on ahead. How can you do that? Here are some options: to your church, to mission opportunities, to benevolent situations,
etc. I want you to consider looking at your life from the end. If you were to die today, stand before the Lord and had to give an account of your stewardship how satisfied would you feel? Did your life reflect your declaration of Jesus as Lord? Did your minister to the poor? Do missionary lives and their stories move you to give? Does the finance secretary of the church see your commitment to Jesus as exemplary? Will your children see your giving records as a plumb line?Giving to the Lord needs to be planned and sacrificial (Matthew 6:5-6). However, sadly only about 2.7% was given to charitable causes in 2005. Americans Christians gave 2.5 %. One out of 12 Christians actually tithe. As of 2001, Baby Boomers (ages 35-55) are generous donors but do not tend to give to churches. Baby Busters (ages 20-35) give very little money at all but tend to volunteer time. I recently challenged our Sunday School class in
the area of giving by distributing $10 to each couple with instructions to pray and ask God to give them direction
as to how they could invest the $10 in the Kingdom of God with the stipulation that it could not be given to our church or back to me. We have all been blessed and encouraged as people have shared how God led them to give.The question becomes, "Will those you leave behind regard you as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn't keep"? Or will you be recognized as one who "stored up treasures in Heaven" (Matthew 6:20)-- treasures you couldn't lose?
