Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.”
When people look at life, they must look at who they
are, for example if you are a lost soul then you look at earthly/worldly things
or humanistic things. For a Believer in Jesus Christ, for a soul that has been
redeemed by God’s grace through the blood of Christ, for a soul that now has a
living spirit, our outlook on life should be completely different. For a believer,
the things that are good for us are opposite to those that are lost. For
example, look at what God says, “A good name better than precious ointment;
the day of death better than the day of birth; the house of mourning is better
than the house of feasting; sorrow is better than laughter, the rebuke of the
wise better than the songs of fools; the end of a thing better than the
beginning; the patient in spirit better than the proud in spirit.” If you
do not understand God and what God says is good for us, then we will always
look to our human side. For a believer in Jesus Christ to be happy and
satisfied is to be faithful to/in God and to be walking in the Spirit of His
word. There is nothing more satisfying to God than a faithful servant, Noah – obeyed
God, built the Ark exactly as God commanded and because of this Noah had a good
name. It was Able’s faith in God that gave him a better name than Cain his
brother – “By faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain….” Again, Abel’s good name is what made him better
than his brother. Then there is Enoch, God credited his faith and said, “for
before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
Therefore, it was Enoch’s faithfulness to God that gave him his good name. And
the examples continue, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, and etc., etc., and etc.
all who gained good names by trusting God and doing as God commanded. It
matters not how great our name is with the world if it is not great with God.
Now compare what God says about what is good for Christians, opposite to what
the world says is better for us, or that we sometimes believe is better for us.
“It
is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting”
How is this possible, it is simple, because whatever God has given to you is
better than anything else. It is all about how much we believe and trust God.
God said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.” Matthew 6:31- 32 The question is, do we believe
this? The question is, do you really believe God and what He said? The ask
yourself this question, do you really believe this, “And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28 The question is, do you truly believe
that everything that happens in your life is for your good? Our true faith in
God is seen when God rest us, gives us trials, tribulations, or even
persecution. It is easy to praise God when good things happen, but what about
when bad things happen in your life? Either we trust God or not, either we lean
on God or ourselves. Listen to God, is “Sorrow is better than laughter”,
is it “better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the
song of fools”, and do you believe “by the sadness of the countenance
the heart is made better.” God said all of this is better, because it is
what God promised would be better for us because He chose it for us. We do not
know what God has sent to be in our life, but if God sent it, then He ordained
it for our good. Is it better for a Christian to die than to live on this
earth? Is it better to give than it is to receive, is it better to suffer for
the Lord than to live happily in this world? God said it is, that all of this
is better for you, if God gave it to you. The truth is we do not know what is
good for us nor do we truly know what is good for us, but God does. If we truly
trusted the Lord, we would be glad and thank Him for everything that happens no
matter what it is, because God controls everything in our life. There are many
reasons God brings things into a person’s life, some He brings to reproof or
rebuke us, sometimes to teach us, maybe to draw us closer to Him or to trust
Him more, but be certain, God brings it for our good.
