Thinking About Death is Profitable

In light of my grandfather's funeral, it's only fitting that we talk about death. There are two verses in Ecclesiastes that sound strange at first, but have a lot of insight:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart
Ecclesiastes 7:2

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth
Ecclesiastes 7:4

Don't these cause a double-take? After all, why would someone say it's better to go to a funeral instead of a feast? Why is it wise to spend time in a house of mourning and foolish to spend time in a house of laughter?

I think the answer lies at the end of 7:2, "for this [death] is the end of all mankind". All of us are destined to the same fate of death. If we spend our lives in houses of laughter, feasting, and mirth, we're going to fool ourselves into thinking that death is far away. On the other hand, if we're at a funeral, the reality sets in that death is real and inevitable. So, funerals bring us to think about death, but why is thinking about death wise?

For the wages of sin is death...
Romans 6:23a

Thinking about death is wise because it reminds us that sin is real. It reminds us that we're evil at heart and have no hope of standing in the presence of a holy and perfect God. It illuminates the great problem that all people face: the wages of sin is death and eternal separation from God ( i.e. hell).

Two reactions come from this: 1) indifference and 2) despair. To number 1, I encourage you to contemplate this further and move towards number 2. To number 2, I bring the greatest news in the history of the world. Let's finish the verse we started above:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
Romans 6:23

See, God did something about our problem. He became a man named Jesus Christ who lived the perfect life that He demands and died an excruciating death that we deserve. To prove He was God, He rose from the dead! If anyone repents of their sin and believes that Christ's life, death, and resurrection are sufficient to bring us back to God, they will have eternal life! God's given us a free gift of salvation from sin and death in Christ, all we have to do is receive Him!

This is why many of us could experience joy at my grandfather's funeral. He believed these things, so death was not his end! He's alive and well today with Christ in heaven.

For those of you that don't believe in Christ, God has planned that you would sit in your chair, look at the pixels on your monitor, read these words, and respond to His invitation to eternal life. Life is not a pursuit of laughter and mirth. Life is a pursuit to know God. To know God, we must know Christ. So, please, take Him seriously and enter a life full of unending joy, everlasting peace, and eternal satisfaction.