What is an “everlasting epilogue?” First, let’s break the two words down. Webster’s Dictionary defines everlasting as, “Lasting or enduring through all of time.” That…is a long time!
Epilogues are found in the back of a book. It’s the summary of what the author wrote on the previous pages.
Everlasting Epilogue
Each of us will have an epilogue written of our lives. The difference in our personal epilogue, the everlasting one, is that it will be written by others. Those we were entrusted to love and care for in life and leadership.
We should give them all good content to work with. Here are four simple ways to provide the authors of our epilogue with the words to write:
Intercede Their Life
When we Intercede someone’s life, it’s an opportunity to redirect it. Our paths cross at a critical juncture in time. A place where they need someone to believe in them. Where the crossroads are confusing and they need help making the right turn.
When the opportunity comes, will we positively redirect the journeys of our authors? Will we leave them better than we found them? Will we run in when everyone else runs out? Will we guide them in the right direction?
Give Them Time
Time is our most limited, yet most valuable resource we have. We never know how much of it we have left. The sands of time can run out at any point, without notice.
If we want to provide the author with quality content, give them our time. It is the most meaningful thing one human being can give to another. It’s a precious piece of us, invested wisely in others.
It sends the message that they are the priority. They are important and that they matter.
Serve Them
Pastor Rick Warren has sold more than fifty million copies of the book, The Purpose Driven Life. The first sentence reads, “It’s not about you!”
When we come to grips with this concept, it’s a game changer. Our nature is to be selfish. It’s engrained in us since birth. There aren’t a lot of self-help books on the shelf on how to be more selfish!
A selfless life prioritizes others. Service directs our focus outward, not inward. It places the authors of our epilogues front and center. It’s about them, not us.
Success Over Significance
Awards, accolades, recognitions, and accomplishments are fleeting. They fade with time.
Significance takes the trip, makes it to the ballgame, celebrates the occasion, creates the moment, and permanently imprints an unforgettable memory on the hearts of our authors. It’s the stuff everlasting epilogues are made of.
Conclusion
Maybe we haven’t given the authors of our everlasting epilogue the greatest content to work with to this point. Maybe we are trying our best and feel like we are falling short. Here is the great thing…there are still chapters waiting to be written in our stories.
There are opportunities that await us in every moment, of every day. We must be willing to seize them.
When our story concludes, our everlasting epilogue is the narrative that summarizes what we did with the time God has given us here on earth. The question is, did we make it count?
I want to leave a legacy that lives on beyond me, through the lives of those I love and care for. The authors of my epilogue. How about you?
If so, intercede their lives, give them time, serve them, and prioritize success over significance. It’s the stuff that everlasting epilogues are made of.
