Some of my readers groaned and scolded me for leaving them right in the middle of a story! I did that yesterday, didn’t I? Let’s go back to a post from six years ago, and I promise to finish the story today.

“And Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).

Ahab, the seventh king of the Northern Tribes, ruled twenty-two years. He is remembered as the king who provoked the Lord to anger more than any other king. What a way to be remembered! I may be remembered as the one who always leaves his readers in a cliffhanger! I wrote to you of the situation I faced years ago as a young pastor when I was invited to conduct the funeral of a wicked young man. I mean, truly this was a Christ-rejecter who lived an openly wicked lifestyle. How, you ask, did I come to be invited? The contact was made through the television ministry of our church.

The assembled guests packed the funeral home and waited to see what this Baptist minister would say. I stood before them, introduced myself and said, “Thank you for the privilege of being invited to conduct the funeral service of John Smith (not his real name). I never had the opportunity of meeting him, but I am delighted to meet you today. I am sorry that it is under these circumstances. It is an honor to stand before you today and a solemn responsibility to remind you that someday you, too, shall come into this same situation. Someday you will die. I have two questions for you. First, do you know Christ as your Savior, and second, how do you want to be remembered?” From that point on, I had the privilege of sharing the Word of God.

Think of the question. How do you want to be remembered? I need to live for Christ in such a way that, after I am gone, folks will not so much remember me as they will remember how Christ worked through me.