09/05/2026
From the Pastor’s Pen September 6, 2026
“What Memory Will People Have About You?”
Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”
Memory in our scripture text is defined as “The faculty of the mind by which it retains the knowledge of past events, or ideas which are past: Remembrance: Reflection: Memorial”. Memories we have can either be good or bad. The bad ones we suppress and the good ones we do our best to bring to the forefront of our minds. Memories become even more personal when we switch from remembering events to remembering people.
When we see the word “just” and apply that word in our text to one who has been “justified” by Jesus Christ in the New Testament sense, what a blessed memory we have! The memory of an old saint of God that lived their life proclaiming the gospel, praying on their knees, having a genuine and pure walk with God, a Bible that is falling apart and good fruit is a blessed memory! As I look through scripture, this is what I see of Daniel, Job and Noah and many others as God remembers their lives (Ezek. 14:14). Psalms 112:6 rings true in the scriptures! As I remember in my own life I can remember saints of God that every time I think of them I am blessed!
On the other hand, the memory of a wicked God denier that mocked Christ, lived for the world, fought Christianity and perverted Godly ways will ROT! The name of this person will literally putrefy and become gnarlier in its stench every time they are named until one day that name finally dissolves and is forgotten in the trash bin of history. Think of it as some old food that is rotting in the trash can. Food rots in stages. We see the ARRIVAL of rotting (It is said that when food begins to rot that bacteria that is unseen begins to consume the product. At the same time color loss begins), the ACTIVITY in rotting (The food begins to soften, become slimy and produce that awful stench everyone knows from a trash bin sitting in the hot summer sun for a week) and ADVANCEMENT in rotting (Eventually that rotting food attracts flies, begins to produce maggots and will at some point liquefy into nothing.).
When a wicked person dies, we see the ARRIVAL of rotting (All of their wicked deeds and ungodly acts are brought back up and the slow demise of their name begins. i.e. Ahab and Jezebel are two good examples, II Kings 21:3, II Kings 9:36-37). As time goes on, we see the ACTIVITY of rotting with the person’s name (The more the evil that person did is talked about, the more slimy and stench the name becomes. It becomes so sickening people do not want to mention the name anymore! Like tasting rotting food, speaking that name makes you want to vomit. i.e. Jezebel and Judas are two names kids are not even named today because of their wicked reputation that just gets WORSE, Rev. 2:20, Mark 14:10, Acts 1:25). Lastly, we see the ADVANCED stage of that rotting name (That wicked name gets dissolved into nothing of consequence! The Lord will make sure the wicked have a name that ROTS, Psalms 9:5-6, Isa. 26:14. We see this truth CLEARLY in Ecclesiastes 8:10 “And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.”). What do you think when you hear the name Pharoah, Ben-Hadad, Hi**er, Gloria Steinem, Carl Sagan, Jeffrey Epstein, Adam Lanza and others? ROT!
We write what memory we will have as we live folks! I do not know what course the memory you are making is on but it can be written anew by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:5)! Please get saved today by the Lord Jesus Christ. He died to pay the penalty of your sin, was buried and rose again for you to be saved from your sins and have eternal life! (Rom. 10:9-10), (I Cor. 15:1-4).
Pastor Austin Vestrand
