"54 YEARS AGO!!"

Ecclesiastes 7:3                (ESV)
"A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth."


August 20th has always been a day of celebration for me.   You see, on this day "54 YEARS AGO" I entered this world as an eight pound ten ounce baby boy!  The maturation process has brought me far in 54 years, though some say it has not brought me far enough!

King Solomon is generally accepted as the physical author of the book of Ecclesiastes, although GOD inspires ALL scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).  King Solomon is also known as having a "wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you" (1 Kings 3:12).

What point was King Solomon trying to make when he said the day of death is better than the day one is born?  Does that mean that we are an exercise in futility while here on earth?

In Matthew 20:28 scripture records that JESUS came "to serve", as a "ransom for many"!  When I accepted HIS salvation, I was basically surrendering my life to JESUS, and to allow HIS Spirit to live through my body for the Glory of GOD.   There are times when my flesh rears it's ugly head and I display my my "old self" instead the the Spirit of the Living CHRIST.    

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:24-25 "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death (sin nature)?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."  Just as Paul had a desire not to sin, so do I hunger to live a holy life and glorify my LORD!

There will come a day when I enter my eternal home and will be removed from this sin nature.  "54 YEARS AGO" will then be a day to remember, but the real celebration will only be beginning!