Please read “E1. Meaning to the Meaningless” before reading any of my other articles on Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 9:13-18

We remember our heroes. We put their stories in books, and place statues in our city parks. We do this because it is the right thing to do. Every generation needs to have heroic role models. Our children need to hear stories of men and women who were brave and courageous. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us the story of a wise but poor man. In the time of war, this man’s wisdom saved his town. The town should have remembered him as a hero, but instead they forgot him and they no longer heeded his words.

Most of us will never be heroes. Perhaps if given the opportunity we would be brave and courageous, but thankfully, most of us will not face those circumstances in our lifetime. Still, we interact with others on a daily basis. There are people we work with, people we’re in the same groups with, and people we meet while carrying out our daily living. How many of them remember us? If they remember us, is it for something nice we did or is it because of a frustration we caused? I am sure that many of the people that cross our paths do not remember us at all. As Christians, we want to live in such a way that if people do remember us, it is in a good way. We want our relationships with others, including strangers, to be righteous.

As Christ was hanging on the cross, one criminal turned to him and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43 NIV) Many people will not remember us, but Jesus will never forget us. We have forgotten many people, but we will not forget Jesus. We will not forget Jesus because we choose to remember him and we choose to heed his words.