Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Ecc. 7:2-4
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

I must admit this morning that I spend more time in the house of feasting rather than the house of mourning. Most of my days I don’t think about death. Death is a reality, a present concern that should drive me to think about eternity. I think that this is the point of this passage in Ecclesiastes.

Solomon, first of all, is speaking to the living, thus me. He is addressing mankind in general, and giving me some practical instructions. He says that it is better to go to a place where the reality of life and death are clearly set before me, rather than going to a place where everything is surreal and contrived, a place of pleasure without regard to the realities of life. He tells us that those who are living will take to heart the sorrows of this life.

I think the importance of this statement is that when I comprehend my own mortality, it puts me in perspective to God. Thus, I realize that God is the one who has made me, who sustains me, and who I am going to meet in the sky. Thus, it pushes me to realize that I must prepare my heart and soul and body for this today.

Next, Solomon tells me that it is better to be full of sorrow than laughter because by sadness of face the heart is made glad. This seems like a paradox, for how can a sad face make the heart glad? Maybe this is speaking here of the fact that a sad face, set in the realities of life, and the realities of the future, can be cheered up when understanding that my life is in God’s hands. If I remember the sorrows of life, and the quickness of it, then that will push me to remember that it will only be few more weary days until I am with God in heaven.

Thus, the conclusion of the matter, the wise man will be thinking about the sorrows of life, which will drive him to Christ, and the foolish man will be spending his time making merry, which will drive him from Christ.

Thus, today, let me remember the brevity of life, and the fact that my very next breath could be my last so that I will remember anew the mercies of Jesus Christ, and my mind will be fixed upon my eternal home. May this meditation change the way I live my life today. May it help me to remember that those around me who are living in the merriment of life need the Lord Jesus Christ. May I be quick to share the hope in me, for the sorrows of life are quickly coming upon us.


God continually introduces us to people for whom we have no affinity, and unless we are worshipping God, the most natural thing to do is to treat them heartlessly, to give them a text like the jab of a spear, or leave them with a rapped-out counsel of God and go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to Our Lord.[1]

[1]Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI : Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935, S. April 1