Have you been to a “Memorial Service” recently? It is usually a special time when friends and family gather together to honor or to remember a family member or a friend and to bring solace to those who are grieving the loss in very deep and personal ways. For people of faith in Jesus Christ, it is also a time to reflect on the brevity of life and the hope of eternal life with the God whom they worship and love.
One of the interesting things that often happens both in the more formal time of the event and in the opportunity for conversation that generally follows is the recollection of how this loved one or acquaintance impacted their lives. Sometimes it is the simple words of encouragement or the small deeds of kindness that are remembered. It might be the tender or compassionate listening ear or the helpful words of counsel. Perhaps it was the courageous choice or the exemplary standard of excellence that left a deep impression. For someone it might have actually been the verbal invitation to receive the love of Jesus or the exemplary model of what it looks like to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” even in the tough times. Would you agree that the people who influence us in some of the deepest and greatest ways are the everyday, ordinary, people whom God places in our path for reasons that are known only to Him? People who are not perfect and don’t pretend to know it all, but live out their faith in the moments of life when the choices are great or when the path ahead seems risky or challenging.
Why not join with us and look at the lives of some very ordinary but influential people that are remembered for the choices that they made or the influence that they had in “God’s Book of Remembrance”? While we would invite you to print out the study guides or use them online this fall, if that does not fit your schedule, why not subscribe to receive the Friday introduction to the lesson and at least be introduced to these “Real People with Real Faith” that are found in the pages of the Old Testament?
By the way, would you be willing to share this opportunity with your friends? Thank you very much!
Your friend, MARILYN
