The Holy Spirit illuminates, shines His light on our darkened, dull minds so we can “see”, so we can understand what the Bible is saying — and how God intends to use it in our life-journey. Paul says spiritual truths are understood (and appreciated!) only by the Spirit’s illumination (I Corinthians 2:14). Jesus said the Spirit would lead us into the truth (John 16:13).
Solomon wrote, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). In other words, we are, and we become, what we think! Since we’re transformed by God’s Word, the more time we spend in it, the more of it we get into us via memorization, the sooner and more profoundly we will be changed.
If given the choice, most of us would rather go to a birthday party than to a funeral! But Solomon advises against it. Notice what he writes in Ecclesiastes 7:1-4: “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.”
An unfortunate by-product of our modern world is that we are able to avoid the sight of death and confrontations with death, the tragic result being we don’t take life as seriously as we should. To this Solomon says: “…death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.”
A tombstone in an English village cemetery has the following inscription: “Here lies a miser who lived for himself, And cared for nothing but gathering pelf, [wealth; riches] Now, where he is or how he fares, Nobody knows and nobody cares.” Solomon wrote in Proverbs 10:7: “The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.”
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 Solomon writes, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 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.”
Stones are neither good nor bad; it all depends on what you do with them. I’ve heard it said that if an enemy fills your “land” with rocks, don’t throw them back build something out of them! “Rocks” in your life might be slander, gossip, false accusations. Use those to build, to construct an awesome witness to others of how true believers handle these things!