September 4 - The End or the Beginning
When the writer of Ecclesiastes compares wisdom and folly, he first contrasts the end and the beginning of human and things. He says that the day of death is better than the day of birth, reversing the common belief that birth is to be valued much higher than death. What he means is that if we know about our end in life, we would have wisdom in living our lives. Keeping a sober heart and not let your heart be deceived by temporary happiness or enjoyment. Death keeps us humble, knowing that we are not invincible and there is expiration date for our physical lives. Going to the house of mourning is a reminder that one day all of us must go through the same termination. It is like the advice of Moses for us to number our days so we may gain a heart of wisdom.
This same argument also applies to things, he says that better is the end of a thing than its beginning. We are all excited about new things, new adventures and new experiences but the greatest value of things is towards the end as we can observe the worthiness of that very thing we have done. Rather than being proud about such new thing in our lives, we must be patient to see the outworking of that thing so that we may gain wisdom from it. Never ask, “Why were the former days better than these?” This is the question of the fools, a wise person only consider the work of God in the world. Evaluating one’s own life and the end of all things offer us a way to know the way of God.
A wise person knows the proper time and the just way. He knows the right thing to do at the right time for there is a time and a way for everything. Conducting yourself rightly in the sight of God is the key to living a good life. When you do not have complete knowledge of what is going to happen, with only limited resources and unknown number of days, the guidance from God is the most necessary part of our lives. The psalmist named three well-known persons from the Old Testament: Moses, Aaron and Samuel. The common characteristic among them was the presence of God in their lives. They were all praying people, asking the Lord and hearing the Lord’s answers and they were able to live in God’s ways.
Hastiness and impatience in life would often cause us to make wrong decisions, doing the wrong things at the wrong time. We can all lament to this fact and would like to bring back many of our blunders in life. Waiting before the Lord, hearing from Him, observing the hand of God at work are some of the ways to keep us humble and patient. If you know that you are not in control, you then must commit everything to Him, from the beginning to the end. Your ending should guide your beginning. Have you ever think through your life events and detect what the Lord is doing? Go and ask Him about the destiny and calling for your life now.
Ps 99:1-9 Ecc 7:1-9:18 2 Cor 7:8-16 Prov 22:17-19