"Remembered forever"

Psalm 112 speaks of a righteous man.  It speaks of an honorable, exemplary, godly, influential man, the kind of man I want to be.  Verse 4, for instance, says, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.”  I could go on and on with this chapter, but for today, consider verse 6 with me: “Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.”  Amen to that!

20 years ago, Pastor Rick Ferguson made his home-going to Heaven.  My parents, younger brother, and I were members of his church, and so when he passed, it was one of my first tastes of losing someone special to death.  But this man made such an amazing impact on me, and countless other lives (a fact that is apparent when you realize how often I talk about him just in this blog).  “A righteous man,” says Psalm 112:6, “will be remembered forever.”  I remember Rick’s kindness to me.  I was basically a teenager at the time, yet he knew my name, and he was eager to talk to both my brother and me.

7 years ago, my father, Jerry entered his Heavenly reward.  What more can I say that I haven’t already?  I miss Dad’s humor (sometimes at work when a piece of technology is deciding if it will work, I will say, “as my dad used to say, ‘you have to hold your mouth just right.’”).  I miss Dad’s strong faith in the Lord (he always prayed “Thy will be done”; he knew God’s way was superior).  I miss Dad’s devotion to his wife – my mom – and my brother and me.  But in a sense, my dad will always be with me.  Because his virtue, character, and example will continue on, and be remembered.  After all, “a righteous man will be remembered forever,” as it says in Psalm 112:6. 

I think of other men that I look forward to seeing in Heaven one day.  Men like Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy; Billy Graham, the man who was the human instrument that introduced me to Jesus; the Christian singer known simply as Carman, a man who influenced so many for the Lord.  But it’s important to remember this fact: all of these men were all sinners who realized one day that they needed a Savior named Jesus.  My dad, Rick Ferguson, Billy Graham, and so on, they all were reflecting Jesus’ light and righteousness.  A got questions.org article puts it this way:

“A mirror serves no other purpose than to reflect something else.  A mirror is useless when covered in mud; likewise, when we are covered in sin and turned away from God, we are not living out the purpose for which we were created.  But when we respond to God’s offer of salvation and allow His Holy Spirit to clean us up, we turn toward our Creator, and His glory is reflected in our lives.  It is not our light or beauty the world needs to see, but His (John 8:12; 9:5). (From https://www.gotquestions.org/why-did-God-create-me.html).

To conclude, the Bible says for the person that has a right relationship with God, through Jesus, they can be confident they are going to Heaven.  That’s why I can speak with assurance that I will see these men I’ve brought up in Heaven, because I have done what they did: I put my faith and trust in Jesus alone to save me.  By the way, lest I’m misunderstood, I submit this too: faith in Jesus is not just about going to Heaven one day and then living whatever way you want on Earth.  As another personal hero of mine, Rebecca St. James once said in a radio interview, “The Christian life is about being transformed by God.  It's about every day, putting His way above our own…not living a life for ourselves.”  After all, as Rick Ferguson put it from the pulpit a hundred times: “It’s not about us; it’s all about Him.”

Kevin