I concluded my previous blog, “Numbering Our Days” by reminding ourselves that each day is a gift of time entrusted to us by God to manage and use for his glory and our neighbor’s good.
When Jesus’ was asked “which is the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. … And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-39).
So, when I read that the prophet Isaiah visited King Hezekiah during his illness and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” (2 Kings 20:1), I hear him referencing relationships, both with God and with others.
Yes, there are some very important legal and material things that we should be doing toward planning for our departure, toward putting our house in order before we die.
Faithful Christian stewards acknowledge that God owns all and has given us everything we possess with the responsibility to manage and dispose of our wealth and things in a way that pleases him. And so we give appropriate and adequate written direction regarding the distribution of our material wealth, such as a “legal will.”
We also give appropriate and adequate direction regarding our physical care if and when we cannot make such decisions, by writing a “living will and advance directive.”
And it is equally important to give direction regarding our funeral service and the disposal of our body. Such written directions are an opportunity for us to make our final public declaration of faith in God’s goodness and love. And it is always a most welcomed gift to every surviving spouse and family.
In writing about departing from this earthly life, Billy Graham encourages us to consider how well are we prepared. “Before we embark on our final trip, have we left our earthly home in a state of chaos or a condition of order?”
Nevertheless, I believe the most important and most urgent thing we need to do in putting our house in order has to do with our relationships, both with God and with others.
In her book, “Border Crossing” Katie Funk Wiebe writes, “God’s purpose for the older adult is to complete the life cycle, to bind the generations together, to hand over the faith.”
What is my relationship with God? Is there need for confession and recommitment to his lordship in my life? What are my relationships with family, neighbors, and co-workers? Is there need for reconciliation? Are there words I need to say and things I need to do for reconciliation to happen?
To put our house in order is about honestly examining ourselves, our attitudes and actions, and seriously consider what is of value and worthwhile to us, and what is not. What kind of spiritual legacy will we pass on to the next generation? What life values will they receive from us? Are those values rooted in material wealth or spiritual realities? How will my children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors remember me?
To put our house in order is about reassessing our conversations and conduct, and asking ourselves whether or not we are growing in our Christian faith and behavior. Am I becoming a more mature, well-rounded person, or am I becoming more selfish and childish? Am I becoming more caring or more callous, more forgiving or more vengeful, more tolerant or more critical, more generous or more self-centered?
To put our house in order is about looking back over our years and feeling good about the ways we served the Lord, knowing that our life was about making the world a better place in which to live. It’s about seeing our life’s conversations and conduct bringing forth spiritual fruit in the lives of our children and grandchildren, as well as neighbors and friends in their commitment to the Lordship of Christ.
What spiritual legacy will we pass on to the next generation? What will be our crowning joy? The apostle Paul gave this testimony as the time of his death approached. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 5, 2020
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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