As a corporate copywriter who has personally written many forgettable taglines, I've always been quite a connoisseur of the genre. And there have been some great ones out there. But in my opinion, none has ever been as monumentally apropos as SERVOPRO’s current entry, “Like it never even happened.”
SERVOPRO is, of course, referring to the restoration services the company provides to help homeowners and businesspeople recover from virtually any physical disaster, from fires to floods. Have such a problem? Call your local SERVOPRO franchise and before you know it, it’ll be just “like it never even happened.” Perfect.
But I think there’s a far more important spiritual application for this tagline, one that the devil himself surely appreciates. Because as far as this world is concerned, within a few decades of your death, your life will be “like it never even happened.” Mine, too. And the lives of nearly everyone who ever lived.
Yet we keep clinging to the idea that our worldly impact will last forever. Just read a column or two of death notices in your local paper, and notice how often you spot something along the lines of “We’ll never forget you, Dad!” But the truth is, Dad will be forgotten, and in relatively short order – usually within a generation or two.
Want proof? Think back on your own ancestors – great grandparents or even grandparents, in many instances. How often do they influence you? How frequently do they cross your mind? How much do you even know about them? If you’re like most people, your honest answers would be “never,” “rarely” and “not much.”
Turns out that all those heartfelt promises to “never forget” are as fleeting as our lives are … that Jesus’ half-brother James was correct when he wrote, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14b)
What’s even more eye-opening is this: we don’t even have to die to be forgotten. Just one example: Before retiring my freelance copywriting business a few years ago, I spent 30 years serving GE Medical Systems/GE Healthcare as a primary marketing communications writer. Three decades! Yet GE survived my retirement without a whimper or a phone call. They’re still turning out stellar marcomm tools without my help.
And GE is far from the only company to move along nicely without me, proving that my entire career was “like it never even happened.”
Which has prompted me to ask you a few impertinent questions.
Are you doing anything today that will be remembered a century from now? Better yet, for all eternity?
Even more important, where will you be spending eternity? Will you join the children of God in heaven, to rejoice forevermore? Or will they get along perfectly well without you – without, in fact, even giving you a second thought?
If you haven’t already done so, please consider these issues before it’s too late! Click here if you need a little inspiration.
SERVOPRO is, of course, referring to the restoration services the company provides to help homeowners and businesspeople recover from virtually any physical disaster, from fires to floods. Have such a problem? Call your local SERVOPRO franchise and before you know it, it’ll be just “like it never even happened.” Perfect.
But I think there’s a far more important spiritual application for this tagline, one that the devil himself surely appreciates. Because as far as this world is concerned, within a few decades of your death, your life will be “like it never even happened.” Mine, too. And the lives of nearly everyone who ever lived.
Yet we keep clinging to the idea that our worldly impact will last forever. Just read a column or two of death notices in your local paper, and notice how often you spot something along the lines of “We’ll never forget you, Dad!” But the truth is, Dad will be forgotten, and in relatively short order – usually within a generation or two.
Want proof? Think back on your own ancestors – great grandparents or even grandparents, in many instances. How often do they influence you? How frequently do they cross your mind? How much do you even know about them? If you’re like most people, your honest answers would be “never,” “rarely” and “not much.”
Turns out that all those heartfelt promises to “never forget” are as fleeting as our lives are … that Jesus’ half-brother James was correct when he wrote, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14b)
What’s even more eye-opening is this: we don’t even have to die to be forgotten. Just one example: Before retiring my freelance copywriting business a few years ago, I spent 30 years serving GE Medical Systems/GE Healthcare as a primary marketing communications writer. Three decades! Yet GE survived my retirement without a whimper or a phone call. They’re still turning out stellar marcomm tools without my help.
And GE is far from the only company to move along nicely without me, proving that my entire career was “like it never even happened.”
Which has prompted me to ask you a few impertinent questions.
Are you doing anything today that will be remembered a century from now? Better yet, for all eternity?
Even more important, where will you be spending eternity? Will you join the children of God in heaven, to rejoice forevermore? Or will they get along perfectly well without you – without, in fact, even giving you a second thought?
If you haven’t already done so, please consider these issues before it’s too late! Click here if you need a little inspiration.
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