SCRIP-BITS

Ecclesiastes 7:1.    A GOOD name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
 
Well hello there all you beautiful Friends in Christ! A new day has dawned and with it new stuff: mercies and blessings from God; heartache and deceit from man. But it is possible to overcome the evil from man by dwelling on the goodness of God. That’s why He gives us a brand new start every day; so we can wash away yesterday’s tears and heartaches with the richness of His daily blessings. We therefore cannot give up because yesterday’s problems seemed insurmountable. God in His eternal wisdom and mercy will cause us to reach even higher today, and look at yesterday’s difficulties as mere stepping-stones to bringing the dreams He’s placed in our hearts to fruition. And speaking of dreams, here’s an appropriate quote from my ‘P.S. I LOVE YOU’ poster. It simply says that ‘dreams come true for those who work while they dream.’ Now that’s the way to bring dreams to reality! Of plans, they say; plan your plan, then work your plan. The same goes for dreams; dream your dreams, then work towards them. You can’t just keep dreaming indefinitely and hope that one day those dreams will just come true like magic. No people, there needs to be a lot of elbow grease also applied. But please remember that in all we do, especially if it’s on Jesus’ behalf, then we must also try our best not to get our name, or Jesus’ sullied in the doing. That means living up to our Bit: ‘A GOOD name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.’ Yesterday we dealt with the first part; re the importance of integrity and character in our earthly walk. Today, let’s look at the second half: ‘and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.’ Now I’m not sure I agree with that statement, although it’s true that once you die, the troubles of this world no longer affect you. But here is the Preacher’s (writer’s) justification for that statement. ‘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 (at the hand) 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 yet seen the evil work that is done under the sun.’ (Eccl.4:1-3) The author tends to think that oppression is so rampant in his world, and it certainly is in ours, that the oppressed would be better off dead. But isn’t that a rather short-sighted approach? What about all the good days we enjoy here on planet earth, don’t they count for something? Possibly not in the minds of those who are continually oppressed. Then what about hope; the fabulous cliché that while there’s life there’s hope; hope that Jesus will end the oppression in due course? I know it’s not easy to dwell in hope, while living in physical despair. But it is possible if we use Jesus as our strength and guiding light. Grandpa Job was one of those who bewailed the day of their birth when calamity befell him. He wished to be ‘as infants which never saw the light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary (wearied of strength) be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.’ (Job 3:16-18) Oh Friends, there are compelling arguments to be made for either side, but how many of us truly would prefer to have never been born eh? How many of us would really prefer never to have seen the beauty of a sunny day, a starry, moonlit night, to hear birds singing, to see the beautiful flora and fauna created by God for our enjoyment, to see, touch, embrace and cheerfully encounter and LOVE other humans…and the list goes on? We in the West with our privileged and fairly safe societies might consider it great to have been born, but for those who have only known oppression, hunger, poverty, strife and violence from the day of their birth, they might surely have a different perspective. The long and short of the matter though, is that once we’re born, there’s not much we can do about it. It’s a fait accompli. We just have to carry on as best we can, play the hand that has been dealt us, and hope that through God’s grace and our sterling efforts, we’ll come out on the winning side. So please Friends, let’s not bewail our physical birth, over which we had no control, but rather wholeheartedly embrace Jesus in our spiritual rebirth, which is ours to control. Much LOVE!…our first birth (physical) might leave much to be desired…but our second…our spiritual awakening in Christ…is to die for…because it brings salvation and eternal life…