I have just a few Bible quotes to look at today

I have just a few Bible quotes to look at today. These aren't of the cheery nature, but they're sure as heck of the true nature. If you want it straight and if you want it real, here they are; and note the first and the last quotes. If you don't want it real then by all means proceed no further: "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" (Eccl. 7:8). And seeing that birth is the ultimate 'beginning' for all of us, we should consider Job's observation: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not" (Job 14:1,2). Then we have this sobering consideration of Solomon, as well as his concluded expression about it: "So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun" (Eccl. 4:1-3). And for everyone who has the ambition of being someone who is great in the kingdom of God, we have Jeremiah's bliss about being the greatest prophet of God of his day: "Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (Jer. 20:14-18).

But why should we stop with one of the greatest prophets in the history of the world? Let's just go straight to the top and hear the prophetic words of Jesus which were spoken in the Psalms: "Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psm. 69:20,21). Right about now I'm sure I've got somebody reading this that's saying something like, "My God, is this guy just some kind of depraved depression fanatic?" Actually I'm not depressed at all, just real and honest with God, and acutely aware of the real nature of this present life, which is sorrow and affliction. And speaking of sorrow let's get back to Solomon for some more wise and powerful observation on his part: "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl. 7:2-4). As for my dwelling on all of these darkly sobering realities of the scriptures and of this life, let's go to the next verse in that passage: "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity" (Eccl. 7:5,6). So according to the wisdom of God in Solomon, it's better that you are reading this post today rather than some feel-good Christian psychology, or some upbeat religious fairy tale that is so available on every hand. Please don't get me wrong, I love to have good times as much as the next person, maybe more. But Solomon has some more wisdom that will keep us in check about good times as well: "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity" (Eccl. 11:7,8).

Then he immediately gives a touch of sarcasm followed by a sobering admonition, to temper the foolishness of youth, for the sake of those who are given to it: "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity" (Eccl. 11:9,10). Remember what I said about noting the first quote and the last one? "A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death [is better] than the day of one's birth" (Eccl. 7:1). That is the last quote, and it is the same as saying that the end of a thing is better than the beginning, like the first quote. That is true of this life because of the evident fact that sorrow and affliction are inescapable in this world, and as Solomon said, "the days of darkness shall be many." But the day of one's death is ONLY better than the day of one's birth IF the dying party has met the following criteria in expectation of obtaining the following hope: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I Jn. 3:2,3). If that "one hope" of the Gospel is NOT our aim, and that one criteria for achieving that hope is NOT our focus; then the day of one's death is FAR WORSE than the day of one's birth. The hope of the Gospel, which in reality is the resurrection of the dead as John noted, is the one steadfastly wonderful and beautiful thing in this life; IF that hope is being nurtured with true purifying faith and resulting holiness. And just for the sake of punctuating that point I'll throw in one more wise statement from Solomon: "For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die" (Eccl. 9:4,5). And all the congregation said, "AMEN!" And I say amen as well. May God bless.