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hen I can sit on my back porch, drink my coffee and read my Bible....well, it is just a little piece of Heaven. The other day I was pondering the Sunday School lesson that I had just taught and thinking about the story of the Nobel Peace Prize. Most people don't know the story of how it was originated and is still controversial to this day as to the reason. This is the most common story though and one that is very fascinating. In 1888, when a humble Swede by the name of Ludwig Nobel died, the French press confused him with his younger brother Alfred — the famed Swedish entrepreneur and inventor who amassed his fortune by making such deadly delights as dynamite and ballistic — and ran a cutting epitaph about this “Tradesman of Death.” Alfred Nobel, having the rare misfortune of witnessing his legacy while still alive, found himself heartbroken and determined to change his story before it was too late. Likening his tale to that of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Oldfield writes: "Nobel had a vision of the future that might be, and he decided to change his destiny. He thought for a while about what to do. Then, on November 27, 1895, he took action. He went to the Swedish Norwegian Club in the Marais in Paris, sat down at a writing desk — which is still there (the venue is now called simply the Swedish Club) — and wrote his last will and testament". Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality. He allocated 94% of his total assets to establish the Nobel Peace Prize and this is how he changed the way he was remembered.
pg 12 | Sophie Woman’s Magazine | April 2016
by Judy Smith
How would you like to be sitting on your porch with coffee and a newspaper and open the obituaries to find yours there? What would it say? How do you want to be remembered? As I am reading my Bible I am reminded that God created all, including me. I am also reminded that non are perfect....especially not me. As I sit and look around me at all God has created, I am amazed. Maybe you don't believe in the Heaven I am talking about or the God I am talking about. In Psalms, David tells us that the heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Let's just forget about that for a moment. Look at the Human body. How can anyone believe there is not a creator and that all of the human race was just created by a big bang or we came from monkeys? How much faith does it take to believe those theories over God? My obituary will not declare my perfection but I sure hope it declares my next home. I am a sinner but I am a sinner that is saved by Grace and my home is not this world but to live with my Creator for all eternity? What happened to Alfred Nobel was a gift. Yet, he may have changed the way he would be remembered but what about after he died? He may have left millions for great things but did he do the one thing that mattered for all eternity? What about you? Do you know THE CREATOR? If not, I would love to share with you what God's Word says.