"He Tried"

He made a joke about it,

‘Bout his tombstone words when dead,

In big block carved out letters,

These words my Daddy said.

Put on my stone, he’d chuckle,

Just two words there will do,

Say “He tried” and let it be,

He’d laugh, I’m telling you.

Of course we didn’t do it,

It only says his name,

The date of birth dash date of death,

Like many graves the same.

But Dad, he was a worker,

No matter what you say,

If his heart was still beating,

He’d be trying yet today.

Guess you’d say he had no quit,

Through war when he was young,

Many set-backs that he faced,

But over each he won.

He bought and sold those cattle,

The same with real estate,

Made and spent a lot of cash,

Ran wide-open like he’s late.

And when his old heart stopped him,

It was a shock for sure,

And last time I talked to him,

Back to work would be the cure.

But then the Good Lord called him,

And it was his time to go,

No doubt he was a saved man,

It was comforting to know.

But now that I am older,

What words apply to me,

To put upon my gravestone,

So everyone can see.

Maybe what my Daddy said,

“He tried” would be just fine,

In honor of the life he lived,

And to remember mine.

“I press on to reach the end of the race…” (Philippians 3:14, NLT)

It’s not a stretch to view “pressing on” as our effort energized by the Holy Spirit. We must depend upon God’s power to do through us what we can never do. But, fact is, we also need to give the Lord something to bless. Someone has said it’s hard for the Lord to steer a parked car! There’s a lot of truth in that. Dependence upon the Holy Spirit does not mean there is no human “try” involved. We try, and keep on trying to do the right thing, asking the Lord to help us and empower our efforts. Press on.

Lord, help us press on to the end of the race, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Dane, dondane.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.