Sobering Words of King Solomon

Ecclesiastes 7:2 (KJV)_[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.

One may wonder why in the world would Solomon write it’s better to go to a place of death over a place of joy and laughter! But, I truly understand where he’s coming from just returning from a dear loved one’s funeral. It’s natural we tend to avoid the morbid thought of death, hence why many people avoid funeral’s; They don’t like to be around the heaviness in the atmosphere or to be reminded of the painful reality that death will come to us all! However, Solomon knew the shadow of death lurks behind everyone of us, and as Hebrews reminds us, it’s an appointment for all men, and after that comes the judgement of God almighty!

Simply put, the house of mourning “SHOULD” realign our ambitions and put everything back into proper perspective. It reminds us of the sobering truth that life on earth is but a vapor, and we better cherish every moment of it. It should remind us there is a coming judgement after we die, and we will all stand before the Sovereign King and be judged according to what we done with our God given time on earth. Time robs us on a daily basis because we cannot go back and relive one second of the day, and that’s why it’s important we live a prudent life and take advantage of time He currently gives us. Also, Solomon mentions it was better than a house of feasting: A house of feasting is accompanied by good times, people becoming drunken, time stands still, we tend to just “live in the moment.” This plagues our world today, they toil for every vain thing under the sun with not one thought of eternity. They live as though they be immortal, or death shall surely never come my way! What a faux perception of life! The reality is we better live our life with this is mind, -Life on earth is but a vapor in comparison to eternity! Our toils on earth will determine our residence in eternity: Heaven or Hell! 

The house of mourning reminds us, -We’re among the living which means God’s giving us time to make things right (no matter how far we’ve fallen, God can still swoop in and bring us back to his bosom.) Cherish life, love like Jesus, forgive like Jesus, beckon all that will listen to compel them -There is still time to make your call and election sure with God. We have one chance to get it right folks, Eternity is too long to get it wrong! 

God bless, JDS