"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me." -Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the wildly-successful genius behind the wildly-successful Apple company, passed away this week. According to the above statement, which he made back in 1993, his goal wasn't to be the richest man in the cemetery when he died. He wanted to "do something wonderful," make a difference. And I commend him on that. He certainly was successful, at least in the eyes of the world. But I have to wonder, how much of that success counted for eternity?
I'm not trying to minimize the things Steve Jobs accomplished during his life. And I admire the fact that money was not his main objective. But then I think of the missionaries who spend their lives with poor people, living in poverty themselves, to spread the truth of the love of Jesus and the importance of eternity. Or of people who work dangerous jobs, who put themselves at risk for their country or fellow man, so that someone else might have a chance to discover the importance of eternity. Or the single mothers who work two jobs and never go out, but spend their (limited) free time teaching their children to love Jesus and others. These are people who will not be famous. Millions of people will not be informed when they die, and their accomplishments will not be published on Wikipedia. They certainly will not be the richest people in the cemetery.
But they surely will be among he richest people in eternity.
As author and speaker Randy Alcorn says, life is a dot. It starts, it ends. Eternity is an unending line extending from that dot. We should be living for the line.
Being the richest person in the cemetery shouldn't matter. But I hope I'm among the richest people in eternity.
I'm not trying to minimize the things Steve Jobs accomplished during his life. And I admire the fact that money was not his main objective. But then I think of the missionaries who spend their lives with poor people, living in poverty themselves, to spread the truth of the love of Jesus and the importance of eternity. Or of people who work dangerous jobs, who put themselves at risk for their country or fellow man, so that someone else might have a chance to discover the importance of eternity. Or the single mothers who work two jobs and never go out, but spend their (limited) free time teaching their children to love Jesus and others. These are people who will not be famous. Millions of people will not be informed when they die, and their accomplishments will not be published on Wikipedia. They certainly will not be the richest people in the cemetery.
But they surely will be among he richest people in eternity.
As author and speaker Randy Alcorn says, life is a dot. It starts, it ends. Eternity is an unending line extending from that dot. We should be living for the line.
Being the richest person in the cemetery shouldn't matter. But I hope I'm among the richest people in eternity.
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