How Will Your Epitaph Read?

Craig Thomas

Two of America's famous founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, wrote their own epitaphs. In case you've forgotten, epitaphs are the words one has inscribed on their tomb or gravestone. Epitaphs are intended to sum up the high points of one's life or to express noble sentiments summing up what one has accomplished in life.

Mr. Jefferson's read: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, & Father of the University of Virginia." On the other hand, Mr. Franklin's waxed more philosophical: "The body of B. Franklin, Printer: Like the Cover of an Old Book, Its Contents torn Out, And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More, In a New and More Elegant Edition, Revised and Corrected, By the Author."

If you had to write your own epitaph, what words would you choose? How would you have it read? Would it be truthful? If your friends saw your epitaph, would they recognize you, or would they think they were at the wrong gravesite? Let's look at some epitaphs in the Bible.

Dishonorable Epitaphs God's book is full of epitaphs. One of the greatest qualities of God's book is how the Holy Spirit always presents the truth in a direct, frank, and unvarnished manner. Thus, many of the Bible's epitaphs sum up ungodly lives in an unequivocal manner. We would do well to read such epitaphs, study the lives that produced them, and take heed for “they were written for our admonition” (1^st Corinthians 10:11). Consider and contemplate these epitaphs.

Rehoboam: “And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord” (2^nd Chronicles 12:14).

Uzziah: “His heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God” (2^nd Chronicles 26:16).

Ahab: “There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord" (1^st Kings 21:25).

Honorable Epitaphs On the other hand, let us consider some epitaphs we would do well to strive to imitate and covet as our own.

Abel: “He obtained witness that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4).

Enoch: “He had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).

Abraham: “He was called the friend of God” (James 2:23).

A virtuous wife: “Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all” (Proverbs 31:25-29).

Hezekiah: "He did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered” (2^nd Chronicles 31:20-21).

Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2^nd Timothy 4:7).

Our lives are a living epitaph. Whether or not we ever take up a pen to write them, our epitaphs are being written today. What does yours say? Is it honorable or dishonorable? Over that, only you have control!