For Ladies …
How Will We Be Remembered?
Pat Jones
Several years ago, my grandmother was filling out her hospital discharge papers when she unexpectedly suffered a massive heart attack. My grandfather and I made the heartbreaking trip home to find several ladies from our congregation preparing food for arriving family members. These ladies served food in a simple, ordinary fashion that will always be remembered by our family.
Tabitha (interpreted as Dorcas), living in Joppa, was well known for her works of charity. Her death is recorded in Acts 9:37. The disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, and they sent for him. Peter was brought to an upper chamber. “[A]nd all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.” These widows were remembering the compassion she had for them. After our death, will we be remembered for our kindness and benevolence toward others?
Vashti, queen of Ahasuerus, refused to show herself at a feast held by the king (Esther 1:11,12). Vashti will always be remembered for her strong convictions pertaining to modest apparel, therefore, providing a great example of proper attire intended for Christian women.
In 2 Kings, we read of Elisha’s passing by the home of the Shunammite woman to eat bread. “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman: and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread” (4:8). Verses 9-10 affirm her concern for Elisha. “And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.” Elisha, the prophet, remembered her kindness, and the gift of a child was given unto her (4:14).
We will never be able to build a room for the prophet Elisha. However, our works are very valuable to the Lord, and we will be rewarded for the simple, ordinary – often hidden – ways we serve him to the best of our ability.
The names of numerous women in Bible times and those living in this present day will never be mentioned for their good deeds and love for the Lord. However, God has a “book of remembrance,” and the names are unforgettable to him. We read in Malachi 3:16, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name.”
Will our names be written in the “book of remembrance?” - Route 1, Box 109-A, Rivesville, WV 26588.