Jan. 9 "Title" or "Testimony" ?

A minister delivering a funeral eulogy said that everyone dies with either a title or a testimony. Life is defined in the way you die and the message you leave behind. Those who are preoccupied with gaining a title can expect that to be remembered when they die. News accounts of the death and the burial will focus on the title. Those who attend these funerals are often people who are title conscious.
Other people die with a great emphasis on the kind of testimony they have given in life. What was important to them? What was the basis of their value system? Their funerals are usually marked by personal testimonies from people they have touched and influenced. People with titles are buried in impressive tombs, people with testimonies need only a simple gravesite. People with titles leave memorials to themselves. People with testimonies leave living memorials to the Lord of their lives.
Jesus told a story once about people dying in these two different ways. Please read Luke 16: 19-31. One was in torment after death because the worldly title and wealth and recognition all had been left behind. Those things don't impress God. The other man died and was able to carry his spiritual values over into death with him and was experiencing joy with God. The man in torment could see the other man in eternal peace and asked God to warn his family not to make the same mistake.
I wonder if someone who is a friend or relative of yours is asking God to keep you from making an eternal mistake? I wonder if you are trying to keep a friend from making a mistake about eternity? Jesus' answer in the story was that the truth of life and death, Heaven and Hell was being preached daily and people must listen and make the right choice. What is it for you? "Title" or "Testimony"?

"We are so easily confused, dear Lord. Clarify with us again that the only epitaph that makes an eternal
difference tells of our relationship with You. Amen"