Photo Credit: Taylor Wright
Our lives are like roses, not only do we have thorns to contend with, we must blossom in the seasons of life, which we have been given.
The book of Ecclesiastes is an interesting book to read. And you can read it cover to cover in an instance. I’ve done it severally. In fact there isn’t a verse in the book of Ecclesiastes that isn’t underlined as rev (rev for revelation) in my bible. Again, Ecclesiastes 9 is an interesting chapter to meditate upon especially if you read it in The Message translation. But I will pull out a few lines here for you to have a sneak peek.
"Time and chance happens to us all...Therefore relish every day of your precarious life"
Ecclesiastes 9
... a sneak peek...
Verse 7-10 says,
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.
It doesn’t get any more blunt than that. Seize life! Relish each and every day of your precarious life! Wow. But that’s not even our focus this morning. That is the preamble however, and a very good one. But here is our focus, it is verse 11 and it says:
I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is—
The race is not always to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor satisfaction to the wise,
Nor riches to the smart,
Nor grace to the learned.
Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.
You see, lately I’ve been meditating on a common human problem — the act of comparison. That problem that never fails to disagree that the grass is always greener on the other side. I’ll give you an example. I’ve been married 3 years and I have all these exciting things listed out as I expect the arrival of babies. And there is my friend on the other hand who’s been married over a decade now, has four kids, and says, “Please Bukkie, anything outside of husband and children, give it to me, I will take it!” And another friend says to me, and this was on the same night, “To be honest, I’m not sure I’m still believing Bukkie…I’m just living my life.” She’s single and longs to be married.
There you have it. The common thread that runs through us all. Dissatisfaction. The missing link. The ungreen grass in our fields of expectations. So, I’ve been meditating on these sort of scenarios and I’m asking God; Why does this happen? Why does one have and some others don’t? Some marry early, some marry late, some may never marry even if they wanted to. Some have babies, and others never have. For some babies come so easy and for others babies are miracles, like smack-dab miraculous, inexplicably miraculous. Yet for some others, babies are a liability they don’t think twice before they rid of them in an unending chain of abortions.
And the answer that comes to mind is Ecclesiastes 9:11
The race is not always to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor satisfaction to the wise,
Nor riches to the smart,
Nor grace to the learned.
Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.
THEREFORE,
Ecc 9:7-10
Seize life! Relish life…
Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
In essence, so long as you have breath make the most of it. It is our duty to please God by living a worthwhile life regardless of our desires, our longings, and our unmet expectations. One thing is sure — He has given you life, therefore… Make the most of it.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
We will continue this muse or some other time.
Shalom
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