Near Lincoln, Kansas, stands a group of gravestones that boggles the imagination. A farmer named David, a self-made and determined man, managed to amass a considerable fortune, but had few friends and no relatives for whom he cared.
When his wife died, David erected an elaborate statue showing both her and himself sitting at the opposite ends of a loveseat. So pleased was he with this monument that he commissioned the sculptor to create another, this time showing him kneeling at her grave with a wreath in his hand. And that made such a fine impression upon him that he set out to erect still another tombstone depicting his wife kneeling at his future graveside with a wreath. He even put wings on her back as she now resided in another world. So, as time passed and one idea led to another, he eventually spent over a quarter of a million dollars on monuments to his wife and himself.
David had no interest in aiding his fellowmen or benefiting his nearby town. Nor did he become a blessing to the church, for he used all of his resources on shrines to self. He died at the age of 92, a resident of the poorhouse, and his cherished stones are slowly but surely sinking into the Kansas soil, victimized by vandalism and neglect, weathered by time.
When I read that story I thought–that’s just like sinful human nature! Perhaps you don’t have the resources to do what David did, but you make the same mistake. Rather than seeking to glorify God by rendering service to others you seek only to gratify the flesh. Fact is—you can never find satisfaction by seeking it. Fulfillment in life comes only by knowing you have done your best to do your God-given duty. The best monument a person can leave is a life well lived, and you can’t do that without making yourself servant for Christ’s sake.
