How will you be remembered? Perhaps that is not the correct first question—will you be remembered? I suppose each of us would like to think that our lives will have meaning and influence beyond our own days. Just what will we leave behind: money, debt, or both a physical and a spiritual inheritance?

Elisha was a miracle worker even after his death. Elisha lived a long and successful life for the Lord, and when he died they placed him in a tomb. The Jews did not bury people in the ground in a coffin; rather they wrapped the body and placed it in a tomb that resembled a cave. It was common for more than one body to be buried in a tomb but the men who buried the unknown man in 2 Kings 13:21 got the surprise of the century. They had opened the tomb where Elisha was buried and thrust the body of their friend in. The body came in contact with the bones of Elisha and immediately revived. Can you imagine their shock when the man they had mourned and buried walked back out of the tomb? “Hey guys, what should we do the rest of this fine day?” Those may not have been his words, but anything he said would have been incredible.

I doubt that anyone would want to touch my bones, much less be resurrected if they did. However, I would like for my life and teaching to reach into the next generation and make a difference. I have pondered how I can best accomplish that and would like to share a few thoughts with you:

• I must put Christ first in my life so that people remember Christ in me rather than just me. After all, by myself, I am imminently forgettable!
• I must invest my life in loving my wife, who by her very design is made to complete me and make me the man God designed me to be.
• I must invest myself in training my children to know and love the Lord.
• I must use the gift that God has given me to fulfill His will for my life.

It was not the power of Elisha that brought the man back to life but the power of God in Elisha. Let us spend our time and energy on becoming like Christ so that we can be remembered as men and women of God!