What will people remember about us? Most of us hope to leave some kind of legacy. One historian estimates that we will not be remembered three generations after we live. So most of us do not remember our great, great grandparents and will not be remembered by our great, great grandchildren. Does anything stand the test of time?
The last week of Jesus’ life on earth, a woman took her treasure, an expensive bottle of ointment and poured it over his head. Some lamented the economic consequences. An expensive ointment could have been sold to give money to the poor. What did Jesus say? “Beautiful.” She has done a beautiful thing. We need to give to the poor, but the Savior was only going to die once. She was preparing Jesus for his burial. So today, two thousand years later, we don’t know her name, but we remember what she did.
What really lasts? Kindness. What if we practiced some random act of kindness and senseless beauty today? We really can do something today that lasts forever. Things are not eternal, but people will live forever, either with God or without him. If we invest our time and treasures well today, we can make a difference for an eternity. C. T. Studd wrote , “Only one life. ‘Twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
