“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof…. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 ,,10)
The year of 2006 has so quickly slipped by and a month of year 2007 has been spent. Time past is like a spent cheque, you can’t accrue it for now or the future. It will forever be gone and our memories are either a cause for regret or rejoicing. The end is at hand. The writer of Ecclesiastes has this to say to all in Christ “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning.”
Are you struggling with life and are burdened with the weight of cares at work, at home or at school? Are you stricken with an ailment or an incurable disease and it is weighing on you heavily? Is your heart sorrowful by the loss of a loved one? Take heart, the end is at hand and it shall be better for you if your hope is in God.
Look to the Lord Jesus! See His beginning: He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But see also His end! He sits at the right hand of His Father, victorious and crowned with glory and honour. Let us learn of Him. If you desire to be crowned, you must be prepared to also bear the cross. This was the exhortation of the apostle, as he went about “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Ac 14:22 ) Shall the Master go that way and we not tread the same? Must we be carried to the cross on a sedan chair while others bear their cross and trod the old path that the Master had taken? No, there is a cross for every one and there is a cross for you. Remember this: No cross, No heaven.
But cheer up, fellow way-travelers to the pilgrim Promised Land, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof” is the promise of the covenant keeping God who is ever faithful to fulfill all that He says.
Take comfort to know that there shall be an end. What makes hell terrifying is that while one endures the extreme agony of the anguish, one might have hope if the end is in sight. But what does the Scripture say? “Eternal” and “forever” are the words used to describe hell. What respite or comfort is there? None! But thanks be to God for His unspeakable love and grace, the end of our sorrows and light afflictions is sure, it shall certainly come. It may not be in sight for now, but faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith we see afar that which is not yet realized.
The thought that the end shall come and that very soon, gives hope and new enthusiasm to the weary. So whatever state you find yourself in now, be still, preservere on with God’s strength, He has a plan. He is doing a good work in you and the end shall be better. If through the water, it shall not overflow thee; if through the fire, not a hair shall be singed, for “the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:7 ). “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” Amen.