And he died to no one's regret
“He died to no one’s regret and was buried in the city of David but not in the tombs of the kings."
~ 2 Chronicles 21:20
Have you ever wondered what people will say at your funeral?
I've been learning a lot about life from reading the biographies of the kings of Israel and Judah as recorded in 1-2 Chronicles of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Christian Old Testament).
Take, for example, King Jehoram of Judah. He was the son of the very popular and godly King Jehoshaphat. About Jehoshaphat the Chronicler writes:
“He walked in the ways of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in the Lord’s sight."
~ 2 Chronicles 20:32
In other words, Jehoshaphat worshipped God alone and tried his best to follow God's guidance. He wasn't perfect at it (as his story reveals), but he reigned with a good and compassionate heart.
His son, however, was a piece of work.
THE TRAGIC END OF JUDAH'S KILLER KING
Jehoram was the eldest of seven sons. When Jehoshaphat died, he gave the younger six vast amounts of silver, gold, and fortified cities, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram.
One of Jehoram's first acts as king was to assassinate all his brothers and some of leading princes of Israel. The Chronicler writes that Jehoram continued to do "what was evil in the Lord's sight... He caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to [spiritually] prostitute themselves, and he led Judah astray."
Like I said, a piece of work. He was so evil the Lord would have destroyed his house except for the fact the Lord had promised King David (Jehoram's ancestor) that he would always have a descendent on the throne of Israel.
That said, Jehoram's life did not end well. He saw all his possessions and family carried off as plunder of war except for his youngest son, and he himself contracted an incurable disease that, after two years of excruciating pain, killed him with a prolapse of his bowels.
Finally, he died (to no one's regret) and was not buried in the tombs of the kings (just like King Joash mentioned in this previous devotional).
Those are very sad and unfortunate words with which to describe the end of someone's life. What kind of person must Jehoram have been to have no one feel remorse at his passing?
Jehoram is a very extreme example of a life gone awry. I am confident no one receiving this email is on that path. However, his life does provide a powerful lesson that may be summed up best in the words of Warren Buffet:
“To live a good life, write your obituary and reverse engineer it."
~ Warren Buffet
PAUSE and REFLECT:
What do you want people to say about you at your funeral? Can you think of five words or phrases right now you hope people will use to describe who you were?
Once you've thought of some phrases, ask yourself: am I living the kind of life today that will end with that eulogy? What do I need to keep doing, or what do I need to change, in order to be the person I want to be remembered as?
Usually when people share their hopes, they share something about character (I hope people say I was kind and loving) as opposed to something about wealth (I hope people say I owned a lot of cars). In fact, many of traits are reflections of the Fruit of the Spirit or the Beatitudes.
Which means, of course, that these things cannot be developed by will power alone. Jesus forms this character in us as we yield our lives to him and follow him obediently.
So, in order to be remembered as you hope at your funeral, perhaps the best question you can ask yourself is "Where do I need to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in my life today?"
PS: This very exercise (funeral descriptions) is part of our WILD’s Rule of Life retreat which is the final section to Rhythms of Life. You can start this course for free by downloading Part 1: Ruthless Wellness. Contact us if you want to be part of a cohort going through the material.