Last Words

The brother and sister did not know what was ahead for them. As they traveled by train, they had moments of conflict over relatively trivial matters. In particular, the girl fussed about her brother’s shoes. As classical music conductor Benjamin Zander recounts this story, her conversation would haunt the girl for the rest of her life.

The train was taking the girl and her brother to the Nazi camp at Auschwitz during World War II. While she would survive this death camp, her brother would die there. And that conversation about shoes would be the last words she spoke to him. How often she wished she had said something else!

Many people go throughout life never considering the lasting impact their words have on others. But Joshua chose his words carefully when he spoke to Israel for the last time. He challenged them to think about and remember what he said: Specifically, he asked them to choose whom they would serve. But he declared that he and his family already had chosen to serve the Lord.

Each of us has these kinds of choices to make every day. Choices about what we will do and say. Decisions about whom we will serve and what we will do with our time, talent, and treasure. Our daily choices help determine the kind of impact we will have on others.

Right now, consider what impact you are having on people around you. What will they remember about you? What are their memories of your words?

Follow Joshua’s advice. Commit yourself wholeheartedly to serving God. Fill your life with His Word. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and be a faithful steward of the resources you’ve been given. Dedicate your life to impacting lives for the Gospel, changing the world for His Kingdom.