A good reputation ...

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A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born. Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies — so the living should take this to heart.
[Ecclesiastes 7:1 NLT]

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Interesting how Solomon connects our reputation to our death. Perhaps it is only in death that our reputation is fully known? Maybe the eulogies spoken at our funerals say more about us than the way that we perceive our own lives?
I am reminded of the images painted of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and how he was given the opportunity to reflect on the reputation that he had earned in his life. Would that all of us had the ability to see ourselves that way.

What do you think you would see if you were, like Scrooge, taken on a trip down memory lane? Do you think that it would, like Scrooge, affect your present day behaviors? Or what if you were shown the day of your death - would it affect you at all? I have given several eulogies - contemplating the life of one who has died gives one occasion to think about their own life and how they would like to be remembered ... and the legacy they will leave.

Help us today dear Lord to build a reputation that honors you. Cause it to be a legacy of love.

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