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Ecclesiastes 7:1-5
Solomon's series of "better than" statements encapsulates the Bible's teaching on learning the right lessons from life. It is good to have the perspective of a wise man telling us that this is better than that. Here, the choice is whether it is better to be joyful, festive, and full of mirth or to grieve and learn from it. The principle Solomon desires to impart to us is that we do not tend to learn much from good times. This is unfortunate, but it is a facet of human nature that we, like the grasshopper, get our fiddle out and dance away the summer. Even though we live in relative prosperity and receive many blessings, we think primarily about having fun or feeling joy rather than soberly considering the future and the lessons we should learn. Good things bring us much joy and contentment, which is certainly positive. However, it is not as good as allowing the misfortunes of life to teach us valuable wisdom about living a godly life. This idea remains a well-known principle in our culture, probably because of the historical Christian influence and the Bible's memorable sayings, which people once knew more readily and made a part of our collective thinking. The poem "Along the Road" by Robert Browning Hamilton, expresses this well: I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she,
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me! Sorrowful things help to give us a correct perspective; if nothing else, they bring us back to center. They help us to understand and live right before God, if we have that motivation. Sorrow, grief, and mourning teach us the value of life and living uprightly, as well as the value of things like time, health, and life's priorities. God wants us to learn these important principles because death comes to all eventually. Sometimes, it takes the deaths of several close relatives and friends—perhaps in close succession—to make us realize that we need to take action now before it is too late. We could die tomorrow; we have no idea when we are going to die. But those are the vagaries of life. We never know. We have no insurance, no guarantee, that God will let us live a minute longer. We need to think about grievous things like these while we have the time. There is no time to lose. So, it becomes imperative that we learn these lessons when they are given and make the most of them.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Mourn
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