DAILY DEVOTIONAL 📖   HE SEES YOUR HEADSTONE…

Growing up in a coal camp in southern West Virginia, places to play were not that easy to find. Often we (mostly boys) would end up on the mountain graveyard known as Maynard Cemetery.  Mom, Dad, and many relatives and friends are buried there. It contained hundreds of graves, most not well maintained, some within little fenced in areas that were neatly manicured with painted fences and flowers.  One more wealthy family had a small mausoleum made of field stone with an iron gate entrance.  We were mostly afraid to enter, sometimes daring each other to go in!

On occasion I would see markers with nothing written on them.. just a blank slab of stone.  I once asked my Dad about those.  He said that most often they were waiting for the traveling stone carver to make his way to our little town, where he would then carve names, dates, and whatever (within reason) poetic epithets the family wanted. To the passing eye, those blank headstones looked tragic or incomplete. The world often values us based on our worldly accomplishments, our legacy, and how visibly we make our mark on history. We spend much of our lives trying to carve out our achievements, hoping we won't be forgotten. But a blank stone can remind us that God does not need a polished epitaph to know exactly who we are. 

Before a single letter is etched in stone, our names are eternally written in the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16) and in the Book of Life (Rev 20:15). You see, our true identity comes solely from Him, not from the accolades we leave behind. The Creator sees every silent struggle, every unheralded act of love, and every quiet prayer that the world may never have noticed.

Just as Revelation 2:17 promises that God gives each of us a "new name written on the stone," God wants you to let go of your anxiety about worldly legacies. Our most meaningful accomplishments are not the ones we build for human eyes, but the character and faith we develop in the presence of God.  He sees your headstone before a single word is etched!  Strive to make sure the Master Stone Carver has good words to etch about you.. ~jme

Smile:  Letters to Preachers 

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: actual letters to a preacher: I would like to go to Heaven someday because I know my brother won’t be there.—Stephen, age 8