By Marc Hodges

I have been reminded in the last couple of weeks of the brevity of life.

For many of us, we have heard a thousand times that life is short and can change in an instant. Just the other day, I was speaking with some friends about how quickly time has gone by. I said, “The old saying goes, ‘Time flies when you are having fun.’ Well, I believe time flies whether you are having fun or not.”

The Bible describes life in James 4:14 as “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

I was recently reminded of this truth as we visited a hospital in Birmingham with dear friends from two different families whose loved ones were fighting for life. In these difficult moments, both families commented on the fact that they did not know what they would do if they did not have the Lord to comfort them.

As the Lord would have it, one of those dear families lost their loved one, and my family and I attended the funeral on Saturday. This lady was described as a lady who loved the Lord with all of her heart, was extremely loyal to her Lord, her husband, and to her family.

As we left the funeral, my wife commented on the way the pastor described her in such a fitting manner and that it was a challenge to live up to.

As I have pondered the events of the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking a great deal about the dear saints of God that have gone on before us. We are losing a generation of faithful soldiers of the cross, and we don’t seem to be replacing them quickly enough.

The challenge is to answer this question: When people look back on our lives, what do we want them to say about us?

Let us live our lives in such a way that when people hear our legacy, they will be encouraged to live accordingly.

A song that that has really made me think was recently released by the Christian group Newsboys entitled “What I Want Them to Say.”

When people look back on my life, this is what I want them to say:

He’s the one whose faith didn’t fade

When everything crashed, he didn’t cave

He never lost his awe and wonder

The one that kept me from going under

And he ran a good race

What do you want people to say about you? Only you can make it happen. Go forth and live it.

The Rev. Marc Hodges is pastor of Thorsby First Baptist Church. Look for another installment of his column in a future edition of The Clanton Advertiser.