Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:16, “For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.” To be forgotten is one of our greatest fears. To some people, the only thing that really matters in life is making their mark; or rather, doing something by which they will be remembered when they are long gone.
The Bible says, for example, that when Joab and his men killed David’s son Absalom, they threw him into a pit in the woods and laid a large heap of stones over the place where his body lay (2 Sm 18:14-17). The text emphasizes what a huge tragedy it would have been for Absalom to have remained in the middle of the woods totally forgotten, without something by which to remember him.
The Scripture makes sure to tell us this information: “Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, ‘I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.’ He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument” (2 Sm 18:18).
We all want to be remembered when we’re gone; and some of us secure this legacy by having children; however, Absalom had none. The only one who remembered him when he was gone was his father David, as he cried out, “O my son Absalom; my son, my son Absalom” (2 Sm 18:33). However, the memory of Absalom would eventually fade away with David’s later passing; and we would have no record of his life if it weren’t for the Bible.
There is only one way we can be remembered for all time, and it has nothing to do with gaining worldly recognition. Malachi stated, “So a book of remembrance was written before Him, for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name” (Mal 3:16). If we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and make Him our life’s pursuit, our name will be forever recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rv 21:27).