TO CHEW ON: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments
For this is man's all." Ecclesiastes 12:13
Sometimes the attractive rascal doesn't get his just desserts until the very end of the story. The author makes us wait till we get to the back of the book to show us her take on how life works. That's the case with Ecclesiastes.
The author has painted a fairly cynical picture of human life and effort. But in his closing lines he tells us that there is something that does have meaning.
A commentary on this passage in my Bible says, "Hear the conclusion of the matter: after Solomon had tried every possible experience that the world said would bring happiness, he found it all to be futile and pointless. Devote yourself to God who alone gives true meaning to life." "Truth-In-Action through Ecclesiastes, New Spirit Filled Bible, p. 868.
Solomon seems to allude to this conclusion early in chapter 12 when he says, in effect, make that discovery as early in life as possible.
How much better to have devoted all of life to things that really matter than to conclude at the end of a life consumed with running after material stuff and novel experiences, we were chasing the wrong things.
Wherever you are on life's journey, the beginning, middle or end, let this be a checkpoint as you ask yourself: "What am I really living for?"
PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to see where I'm heading if I stay on the path I'm on. Help me to live in such a way that at the end of life, I will have no regrets. Amen.
MORE: Live -- not just any life, but eternal life
Jesus too speaks about "the conclusion of the whole matter" when He says: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" John 17:3.
Mark Buchanan says about this passage:
"There is something about heaven and eternity that we have to grasp, because if we don't, we'll miss everything else. We'll read the music but never sing, study the choreography but never dance.
It's this: Heaven starts now.
Eternity is not primarily a measure of time — chronological time stretched to infinity. It is not first and foremost a place. Eternity is primarily a quality of relationship. It is first and foremost a presence: to know God and Jesus Christ.
Eternity begins now.
Christianity's most shocking claim is that Jesus is the only way to God. No one gets to heaven apart from Jesus. No one enters eternal joy apart from Christ. That's our claim. I have seen people react to it with anger, contempt, disgust, incredulity. 'How dare you say that. That is so arrogant and narrow and imperialistic.' That reaction might be warranted if heaven were only a place and eternity only a duration of time. But heaven is a unique knowing. It is personal, intimate knowledge, not of some thing, but of Some One — the only true God and Jesus the one He sent.
This is eternal life."
— Mark Buchanan, Things Unseen, pp. 102-103.
Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.
Violet, I am loving your posts. I have subscribed and I get some of my 'daily bread' from your post.
ReplyDeleteThis one gave me a shiver.
This morning I lay in bed feeling pretty rough (I have Fibromyalgia). I have to go to work this afternoon as a nurse in a nursing home. I laid in bed struggling to face my day with pain and fatigue, but I said, "Lord,this is the life you have given me, I rejoice in it." When I said that God seemed to speak within me, saying, "You have Eternal Life within you. It's not just about going to heaven. Eternal Life is now. It is life abundantly. It is life in Jesus, and Jesus in you." Knowing Jesus is in me makes any day beautiful, even if I can't get out of bed.
I don't usually think about eternal life. I can't remember when I gave it conscious thought like that. But then, after having those deep and uplifting thoughts earlier this morning, and then reading your post, I am profoundly moved that God has used your post to nudge me and say, "See, I told you..." And to show me He was really speaking to me, it wasn't just my own thoughts. He ministered to me then, and again through your post. And I feel his assurance that He will continue to minister to me.
Thank you Violet.
Thanks Diana! You are a huge encouragement. And I hope you're having a fabulous day.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's all Him!! We can never orchestrate the little encouragements that come our way via the Holy Spirit. That is my biggest hope for this blog -- that it will do for readers what the writing of so many others has done for me -- help me hear God's voice speaking directly to me. So what you have just said has made my day!
Love,
Violet