Knowledge Brings Sorrow

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/31/when-knowledge-hurts

It is true that knowledge brings sorrow as there are certain truths when discovered would make us sad. Like the case of a famous Christian apologist, it was shockingly discouraging. Or there could be family secrets buried deep in history when finally discovered or made known to us that made us cringe in shame. While knowledge may bring sorrow and misery, the truth reveals the stark reality of our human nature. We are humans after all, not angelic beings. We are capable of committing sin and evil. We can and will do wrong.

The other thing about the discovery of certain past truths is that we need to realise it was a different world back then. While some may be in pursuit of the finer things in life, most I believe, were just struggling back in the day to put food on the table for the family. Most families were relatively large and some men even had a few wives and I’m not talking about Solomon! That compounded the struggle. Just go back in time to 100 years past and we will see life back then was very different. We will then understand why certain things could have occurred in our families, things kept as dark secrets over the years.

The book of Ecclesiastes is strange as the book of Proverbs is familiar. There is a sense of despair and life being meaningless. We are just a fleeting moment in time. We exist for a while and are gone like the flowers in the field. Of course, time is relative – the flowers live for a few weeks but we live for an average of 80 years but to God, thousands of years is also just a moment, a flicker of the eye.

The concept of eternity and eternal life didn’t really come into play until Jesus appeared on the scene, yet the conclusion from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is that true wisdom is to know God and follow Him. Cling to Him. Then we will realise that life is not meaningless because we don’t exist for a fleeting moment. God has put eternity in our hearts. We live forever in the spirit, our souls are eternal. Then we realise that what we do while on earth while we are still breathing matters! Life is indeed not meaningless. The meaning to life is actually to know God and be in fellowship with Him through Christ! Amen! Praise the Lord indeed! Hallelujah!