In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knows what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?” and in chapter seven and verse one of his book Solomon shared about, “a good name is better than precious ointment” where we read,
A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.
The verse reads, “A good name is better than precious ointment;” Solomon began with the words, “a good name” or “a pleasant, agreeable, excellent and valuable fame, reputation and glory” “is better than precious ointment” which means “exists as superior, surpassing and greater compared to pleasant, agreeable, excellent and valuable medicament or unguent”. Solomon said an excellent and valuable reputation far exceeds the price of excellent medicament.
The verse goes on to say, “and the day of death than the day of one's birth.” Daniel continued with the words, “and the day of death” or “and the sunrise to sunset pertaining to dying, ruin and destruction” “than the day of one’s birth” which means “compared to the sunrise to sunset belonging to a person’s begetting, engendering and birthday”. Solomon said the sunrise to sunset pertaining to a persons expiration from life exceeds their engendering or birthday.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Solomon how he thought valuable medicament was of lesser degree of importance compared to a solid reputation, and he thought that a person’s “death day” exceeded the value of the day they were born. This is a pretty glib view on life, but we must remember that he is writing about “life under the sun”, and this statement does not at all apply to the person who has given their heart and life to God’s Son Jesus who came into the world to die on the cross for the sins of everyone and was raised from the grave after three days. All who put their faith and trust in Him will be forgiven of their sins, granted everlasting life and given His Holy Spirit who will help them to live in a faithful, precious and valuable manner in His Kingdom.
Next time Solomon says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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