The Good ole Days

“Why were the former days better than these? For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” Ecclesiastes 7:10 Longing for the good old days? According to this passage there is no such thing as the good old days. They may be old but they were not good or at least not any better than any other day. Good is simply an illusion we cook up to make us think things were better than they really were. Let me give you a couple of examples. Funerals. That’s right funerals. We immediately forget all the bad and remember all the good. I’m not saying that is bad but there is something a little unrealistic about it. I remember one lady who suffered terribly under her husband. He was mean. He was unfaithful and he wouldn’t hold a job. When he died I’m sure it was a huge relief to her. However, it was strange to me when she began to talk about him as if he were some sort of hero. I’m sure she was trying to protect his memory to her five young children he left her to raise by herself. As for me I was just thankful I didn’t have to do the funeral and tell the truth about him. Growing up. It was always better when we were growing up. Of course growing is just another way to brag about everything. We brag that it was worse when we grew up, “Up hill both ways to school.” We brag about it being better than today, “Everyone got along in those days.” It is wonderful to have great memories, but there is no need to canonize them. The good old days were just that, old days where good and bad lived together just as they do today. Evil existed then just as now. God’s grace and mercy abound just as much today as they did in those days. Regardless of whether the good old days were good or bad there is no way to go back, we have to go ahead. The best days are not behind us but ahead of us according to scripture. There is much grace ahead of us as well as behind us. The promises of scripture are not just for us but also for our children, Acts 2:39. I hope you are looking forward to what God will do in your life ahead. The Christian life is exceedingly positive. We believe that we will experience more of Jesus in the future than we did in the past, Philippians 1:6. We believe one day we will experience him completely face to face, 1Corinthians 13:12. We have every reason to rejoice and to hope in the goodness of the Lord. So then I would encourage you to encourage one another. We have a lot of families going through some difficult times who need to know that God is working out some good things on their behalf and they can’t see it right now due to their circumstances. Hope in what the Lord will do among us. Trust the Lord knows what He is doing and be glad for how He will work it out among us. Our best days are yet to come.