THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Ecclesiastes 7:10 “Don’t long for the “good old days”, for you don’t know whether they were any better than today.”

Solomon’s admonition here is: It is not wise to always wish for the “good old days.” Ezra records that when the Jews returned to the Promised Land after the Babylonian Captivity that the temple had to be rebuilt. He says that when the foundation was laid for the second temple, the old men cried “for the good old days” and the young men sang songs of rejoicing because the work had begun.

It’s been said that “the good old days” are the combination of a bad memory and a good imagination. Were the “good old days” really the “good old days”? Our memories tend to leave out the bad parts of the “good old days.”

In the 1930’s, there was major crime and the Depression. In the 1940’s, we were embroiled in World War II. In the 1950’s, there was the Korean War, the Red Scare, and fear of nuclear war. Remember all the people who built bomb shelters? In the 1960’s, there was the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert, and Martin Luther King, Jr. There was also the Vietnam conflict, the hippie movement, and civil unrest along with the fear of nuclear war. In the 1970’s, there was still the Vietnam conflict and civil unrest along with a major recession. We tend to forget all those little things, don’t we?

Paul tells us in Ephesians that he thought the days he lived in were evil. But, on the flip side of that verse, he tells us to make the most of every opportunity. Ephesians 5:16 says “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil”.

I learned this truth on my last visit to the place I grew up. No question, I have a lot of very fond memories of the life I lived there. It is fun to sit around and reminisce about some of the great times we had. But that is where it ends for me. If I were to choose to “go home” and recapture those moments, I would be bitterly disappointed. Why? Because I’ve changed, my friends have changed, and many of the circumstances surrounding us have changed. God has brought me to a new place. He has brought me to next phase of his purpose in me.

Sure, sometimes it seems easy to long for the “good old days”. But only because we already know how they end. Living in the past requires zero faith from us. God has set a path before you and me that asks us to move forward and look ahead to what He has for us. He will use the circumstances of yesterday to strengthen us in the future. We should strive to let our “past days” serve the purpose God intends – to teach us and edify us. Today is today. It’s never going to be yesterday again. God is always up-to-date. No matter what is happening in the “here-and-now”, God is able to handle it. We shouldn’t sit around wishing for the yesterdays. We need to live useful todays so we can make better tomorrows.