TheDiscipleMD
A few years ago a Hollywood actor tragically died due to a drug overdose. He was best known for…
He was best known for…(fill in the blank), is a common byline for newspapers when they report on someone’s death. That is, if they are ‘best known’ for something or anything. When I read such accounts I am brought to serious reflection on what might be the byline when I die. What am I ‘best known’ for? Thinking of such a subject and what you might end up being ‘known for’ can be sobering and bring you to serious reflection on the meaning of your life.
Perhaps an evaluation by each of us regarding what we would be best ‘known for’ upon our death might be a worthwhile study. On the other hand, what we might be ‘best known’ for in this life can often be of no consequence in the eternities. To be ‘best known’ as a great actor, or statesmen, or athlete, or entrepreneur, are accolades of man that will die with us. But when those talents are used properly to glorify the Savior, we can still be ‘best known for” our devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ, at least to those closest to us.
In the end, I believe that to be ‘best known’ of God is what all of us should really strive for. The scriptures tell us that “if any man love God, the same is known of him.” (1 Corinthians 8:3) Joseph B. Wirthlin said, regarding that verse:
“What a wonderful promise—to be known of Him. It makes the spirit soar to think that the Creator of heaven and earth could know us and love us with a pure, eternal love.”
Indeed to be ‘best known’ of God is the greatest that any of us could hope to accomplish in this life. It is also a byline we should all hope to see written about the life we have lived when the day of our mortal existence comes to an end.