Living Well

I don't really have any desire to be widely well-known. I don't imagine my funeral will be much of an affair. However, when I read things like the story of Judah's king Jehoram, I realize what I don't want at the end of my earthly life.

Jehoram died of an affliction that could have been ischemic colitis or severe Crohn's disease; the Bible describes his illness as a judgement from God. He was such a scoundrel that "[h]is people made no fire in his honor, as they had for his fathers . . . He passed away, to no one's regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings." 2 Chronicles 21:20

Decisions about the way we live our lives are so important. I'm trying to help my sons realize that. I'm trying to help them really think about how the things they say and do change other people's perception of them. I don't want them "putting on a show"; instead, I want them to be able to genuinely choose to do the right thing, or the better thing, and to do that in the context of their relationship to Christ.

Jehoram was a disaster: personally, spiritually, politically. His bitter demise is a good lesson for us, and good motivation to pursue integrity, not celebrity.