“Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:6 KJV).
Solomon is in this verse speaking of the dead. While they lived, he states, they loved, hated, and envied; or were passionate toward something. But when they died, their love, hatred, and passion died with them, and they are no longer involved in anything “under the sun.” After men die, this world is no longer a sphere in which they have any influence. Regardless of what some people think, our loved ones and friends do not come back to earth to interfere, intervene, and interrupt, to help or haunt us after they die, “neither have they any more a portion (have nothing to do) for ever in any thing that is done under the sun (on planet earth).” One must choose to either believe God’s Word (KJV) or their imagination on this matter.
There have been men like Hitler whose love for his race and hatred for other races and passion to destroy or enslave other people brought about WW II. When he died, the world breathed a sigh of relief. There have been others who have loved all men and hated all manner of enslavement. Their passion was to spread the Gospel of Christ. When they died, the world mourned its loss. But all these were molded by other men’s ideals. For Hitler, it was Darwin and Margaret Sanger (Planned Parenthood). With the Reformers, it was the words of Jesus Christ. But all these men sat at the feet of others and had their passion passed on to them. The mantle was passed to them, and they became the next one in line responsible for keeping their cause alive. These men got their light and lit their candle from other men’s lanterns and took that light to the world. Sadly, each succeeding generation of Christians is far less passionate, enthused, or excited about the things of God than the preceding generation. Much about biblical Christianity is being lost in the transition.
The Jews were told to pass on orally to their children all the mighty works of God that He had done for Israel as well as His commandments (Deut. 11: 18). Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother Lois passed on to him the truth of the gospel (2 Tim. 1: 5).
Paul passed on to Timothy the deeper truths of the gospel and told Timothy to do it (2 Tim. 2:2). Regardless of how noble our cause is or how passionate we are about it, it dies with us if we don’t pass it on. A.W. Tozer said, “We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past.”
But we today must first revive that noble concept of God in our own hearts and in our churches before we can pass it on to the next generation. May God help us!
Pass It On
Whatever’s excited and stirred you thoroughly,
Has constantly taken or bated your breath,
The cause for which you’re so alive and impassioned,
Will die the very moment you depart in death.
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Whatever gives discipline and order to your life,
And that which is on your mind all of the time;
A truth, a cause, or a noble ideal,
That gives your life its perfect rhythm and rhyme.
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Whatever it is that gives you purpose and meaning,
That thing you must do “in order that”
The reason for which you live and fight on,
Whether ignorance or oppression that you combat.
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Whatever it is you have lived and would die for,
If you want it to live after you are long gone
You must give your passion to a very special someone,
Who will also, passionately, pass it on.
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The thing that has ennobled and matured you
Sustained you through life’s heartaches and storms
Entrust it to that one who is the dearest to you,
May they of your deep secret be well informed.
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That which empowered and made life worth living,
Has enriched you in ways that others can see,
Find someone who highly esteems your coinage,
To keep alive those powers for others to see.
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So, long before your light has grown dim,
And your power to reason and communicate has flown,
Give away in full measure your priceless treasure-
Let your seeds of knowledge and wisdom be sown.
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For instance, has the Lord become so precious?
Then tell how you came to treasure Him this way.
Share what He’s done and what He means to you,
Why you gave your all to walk with Him each day.
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You may pass your earthly treasures to someone,
But will you give them the jewel of your heart?
You may pass along a priceless heirloom so rare,
But will anyone really know you before you depart?
James Cagle ®️
