Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 | What Death Can Teach Us

This is my 4th funeral in the last 5 months. I have walked together with these families through the valley of grief. I want to offer a brief meditation titled, “What Death Can Teach Us.”

The following passage was written by one of the wisest persons of all time. Salomon writes,

Ecclesiastes 7:1–4 (NLT), 1 A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born. 2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. 4 A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

Lessons that death can teach us:

1. Death reminds us that death is everyone’s destiny

Our time will come too. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

“After all, everyone dies.” (v.2)

Hebrews 9:27 “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”

“It is appointed for men to die once.” (ESV)

Appointment: I have lots of appointments on my calendar. There’s one appointment we all carry—one that’s not on our calendars but known by God: the day of our death.

2. Death reminds us to treasure our numbered days.

Salomon writes in v.2:

“Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.” (v.2)

Funerals give us a rare opportunity to pause, reflect, and consider what truly matters in life.

King David writes,

Psalm 39:4 (NLT), “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.”

3. Death reminds us that life is short and eternity is long: Don’t waste your life.

Back to Salomon on the book of Ecclesiastes:

“A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.” (v.4)

Salomon is not being morbid, he is being realistic and wise. He contrasts a wise person with a fool who lives in denial of death.

Death puts life into perspective. It reminds us: don’t waste your life chasing what won’t last.

Only One Life

By C.T. Studd

Only one life,’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last. 

It is no wonder Mose wrote, Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

4. Death reminds us that death is not our final destiny.

Scripture is clear—death is not the end. It is a doorway into eternity, and eternity has only two destinations: heaven or hell.

Here’s the gospel, the good news: “the day you die is better than the day you are born.” Salomon writes in v.1.

This sentence points to Jesus. You see, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem was a reason for rejoicing, but the day of his death was even better than the day he was born. For on the day he died, he cried out “It is finished.” For this reason, the day Jesus died at Calvary was better than the day he was born in Bethlehem.

Hebrews 2 tells us that Jesus was born so that, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. (Heb 2:7).

Hebrews 2:14-15, “14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”

So let death do its work today. Let it teach us to number our days, to treasure what matters, and to look forward to eternity to spend with Christ our Savior.

In Christ, the day of our death truly can be better than the day of our birth.

This is why the Apostle Paul could declare with such confidence: Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Do you have such confidence? Marilyn did because she trusted in the finished work of her Savior.