What do you want to be told in memory of you?

I should probably keep the story that I started yesterday going but, instead, my mind is trying to process the message of tonight's conference speaker Cindy Townsend.

Cindy has a tender heart and a deep desire to know God and make Him known. I have admired her ministry passion for many years and am thankful to have her at this NOBTS Women's Conference which -- as she and several others pointed out -- is my last as Coordinator of Women's Programs.

Cindy speaks freely and easily in this setting. She knows the Word and engages the Truth with confidence and humility. She chose Mark 14:3-9 as her jumping off place; it's the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with costly perfume. With the thought that sometimes you start with the end in mind, she processed the question, "What do you want to be told in memory of you?" This referred to v. 9 in which Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

I doubt that this woman's motives had anything to do with what she wanted to be remembered for. Her act of worship was an extravagant expression of the undeserved forgiveness she had received. She followed her heart despite the common convention of her day. She wasn't worthy, she wasn't welcome, and she certainly wasn't using her resources in the way more experienced disciples considered prudent. But still she came and gave, and is thus remembered.

Cindy spoke of several funeral messages she had heard lately and it grated on her that, at one, a favorite aunt was remembered for leading a garden club. "She was so much more than that!" Cindy proclaimed as she explained that she told her husband she didn't want anything like that in her obituary or funeral service. "What do you want me to say?" he asked. "I don't know," she responded, "but please don't let it be about that!"

What Cindy was leaning toward and what I know to be true for me is that things like this don't have eternal value. I learned a long time ago we can do a lot of good things but that doesn't mean they matter in eternity. For example . . .

• I don't want to be remembered for planning good conferences unless it is mentioned that this is how God used me to express His spiritual gift of administration.
• I don't want to be remembered as a coupon-clipping penny-pincher unless it is to point out that this gave me (and my family) the freedom to give generously to missions and other God-appointed needs.
• I don't want to be remembered as someone who exercised regularly and ran a few marathons unless it is noted that I saw great responsibility in being the home of the Holy Spirit and wanted to live a life ready to GO when He called.

I could name a few more of this kind of thing but, suffice it to say, if what I do only matters while I'm here on earth, I need to rethink the priority of it in my life. Instead, I want my life so attached to the gospel so that, "whenever the gospel is preached," people who know me will be moved to consider how my life pointed to God ... which reminds me of one of my favorite children's books A Tale of Three Trees, but that's a story for another day ... in the meantime, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjlOViJlM3U ... and note the final words: "that was better than being the tallest tree in the world."