If it Were Your Funeral, What COULD Be Said?

Funerals are solemn ceremonies in which the living commemorate the life of the deceased. Most of us have been to one, and if you have not, your family surely will: Yours! Death is an appointment we must all make (cf. Hebrews 9:27). Upon our physical death, our spirit will stand before God in judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10). Death indeed is imminent for us all.

I personally have been to funerals and memorial services where the eulogist has simply lied. He said things like, “Oh yes. He surely will be in heaven” or “God has taken this sweet lady away from us to be with Him”. Don't get me wrong, these statements are not lies in and of themselves. But when they are said of an unfaithful Christian or an alien sinner, they are lies. Concerning your own life and funeral, we will ask some important questions:

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you were a Christian or would it be said that you died outside the Lord? – 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
• If it were you funeral, could it be said that you were faithful in attendance to the various weekly meetings of the church or that many members did not recognize your face because of your infrequency to worship assemblies? – Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:40-47

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you were kind and considerate to others, or that you always looked out for your own well-being? – Philippians 2:1-9

• If it were funeral, could it be said that you were a regular student of the Bible, or that your many Bibles simply remained on your bookshelf? – Psalm 119:160

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you were honest or that you never told the truth? – Revelation 21:8

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you were generous in your contribution to the church’s common pocketbook, or that you were frugal in your donation to the Lord’s work? – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you prayed constantly or that your knees never had to be replaced? – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you were a willing worker for the Lord and His cause or a reluctant benchwarmer? – 1 Corinthians 15:58

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you loved truth or that you were a sale-out to falsehood? – Proverbs 23:23

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you warmly greeted visited at worship services or that you only acknowledged the presence of other Christians? – Romans 15:7, ESV

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you lifte encouraged others with your words or tore them down with gossip? - Colossians 4:6

• If it were your funeral, could it be said that you sang psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs from the heart or that you barely opened your mouth in praise to God? – 1 Corinthians 14:15; Hebrews 13:15

• If it were your funeral, would you be ashamed to preach it yourself?

Sadly, this list could go and on. For the sake of your soul, live in a way that the preacher won’t have to lie at your funeral!