the best day of my life
"What advantage has the worker from his toil?" —Ecclesiastes 3:9
When you read the book of Ecclesiastes, it is so depressing. It's enough to make you turn to Jesus. Ecclesiastes is brutally realistic. Some believe the only encouraging passage in Ecclesiastes is the third chapter: "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die..." (Eccl 3:1-2). As beautiful and poetic as this passage is, it is also depressing. The meaning is that things are going to happen when they're going to happen, so why even try? Doom and gloom is the message of Ecclesiastes.
Why would God include this in the Bible? Possibly the best lesson in Ecclesiastes is that you don't know what you've got till it's gone. You won't appreciate the "after" if you don't remember the "before." When you read Ecclesiastes, it jogs your memory back to B.C., your life before Christ. You recall the lack of meaning, helplessness, hopelessness, confusion, fears, and bondage. You remember wandering lost, in darkness, alone.
Then came the best day of your life. You met Jesus, opened the door of your heart to Him, and confessed Him as Messiah, Lord, and God (Lk 9:20). From a living death, you came to life in Jesus (1 Jn 3:14). Praise Jesus for coming to seek and save that which was lost — each one of us (Lk 19:10).
Prayer: Jesus, thank You, thank You, thank You...
Promise: "Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, Who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war; my Refuge and my Fortress, my Stronghold, my Deliverer, my Shield, in Whom I trust." —Ps 144:1-2
Praise: Ann's one regret is that she hadn't loved and served her Lord earlier in her life.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape Meeting the Risen Christ on audio AV 4A-1 or video V-4A.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 8, 2010
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