For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18
A birthday is implied only when someone is born and as such the nature is everyone has ( had ) a date of birth. The Ecclesiastes writer says there is a time for everything and as there is also a time of birth, so there is also a time of death. For as everything written in the Bible are for the elect and the wicked but for the fallen it will be an eternity in hell. Though we know our date of birth we know not when we were born and even as we see the scriptures, we feel its mysteries. This was what one of my close one said “ Sometimes I feel like the Bible is like a human’’ , and as he looked at me I also treasured what he said. The truth is everything has its origin in the scripture and the only difference is some are of God, some are not. For as time belongs to God, our prayers are for the elect to make the best use of every opportunity. Now let us see what is written in the scripture in regard to time: ‘’ There is a time for everything and for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to laugh and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’’(Ecclesiates 3:1-11 ) The sad reality is many fails to see this in regard to salvation and judgment and to rewards and losses. It will be tragic to die without knowing the purpose or even to depart without fulfilling it. The world in its folly acknowledges no God but only invites destruction. This is what concerns many and unless the scripture is honored and God is honored, the world will have no peace, no redemption. The two given scriptures speaks of what it is:
‘’ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the hearts of fools in the house of pleasure.’’
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.’’
( Ecclesiastes 7:4) ( Daniel 12:2 )
This is what it is and as we have a physical body, so we also have a spiritual body, and as we know death comes to everyone, so we know it will also come to us. the world knows when Christmas comes but it is in the seasons of it they displease God more, grief God more. Though so many cries in distress and grieves in wounds, so many walks in folly and thinks not of judgment. Everyone must know that as Christ came for judgment, so on the day of it many will either be in the category of the sheep or the goats.
This implies that as separation is destined for, so in the end the righteous will be separated from the wicked, the true from the false. To this, even as we know in part now, someday we shall know in full. The mystery of it are not known till it is known and as our desires are to see it, we know who holds and sustains everything. The inhabitants of the world considers Christmas as a festival but most knows not its worth. On the contrary most sins are committed on Good Fridays and even on the 25th of December. This is sad and our prayers are for everyone to know their worth and Christmas’ worth even as they prepare themselves to meet Christ. Thus as in all of these, we see of what is right and wrong and of the eternal and the temporal, so our eyes must be fixed on the cross of Christ even as we prepare ourselves for eternity. This means that to see everything in God’s wisdom and knowledge must be the prayers within. The beloved of God cannot indulge in sin when they should be praying for the lost, and it will be far worse for the sinners to continue in sin when they should be seeking God. Thus as there is only one heaven one hell, everyone must be equipped to face the future. Though the sinners go on sinning and God haters go on hating, our love for God must constantly increase. The Christ we worship has not been seen by anyone, neither have we seen the Prophets and the Apostles who wrote the scriptures. This is a mystery and as it is written, so our devotions must be. The wisdom of God is the answer to everything.
Ambrose.J.Chakre