Ahhhh... my favorite season is approaching; Autumn. As a child I remember this time of year differently because it meant Summer vacation was over and that of course could not be looked upon as a good thing. But even then I still loved the cooler temperatures, changing leaves, football and the fact that Christmas was a few short months away. Now it means much the same except for the addition of the October Fall Sharathon.
I am one of those people who loves to see the weather change. Autumn and Spring are my favorites but without the contrasts of hot summer days and cold winter nights they probably wouldn’t be as special. I guess everyone likes a little variety.
If we are not careful, we can easily fall into a rut and allow time to get away from us. The seasons come and go. The weeks pass, followed by years. We suddenly find we are no longer children, but grandparents instead and wake up one morning in middle age on our way to retirement and wonder how we got there. If you are one of those people who don’t know what I’m talking about consider this an alarm. If you do know what I’m talking about you are already alarmed, so breathe slowly through your nose and read on. Sometimes the words of “The Preacher” reflect these corporate feelings and give us insight to a solution and ultimate course change.
1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 1:3 What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? 1:4 One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever. 1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. 1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again. 1:8 All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 1:9 That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
When I first read this passage I agreed with every word. “Finally”, I thought, “somebody in the Bible knows how I feel.” If you stop here though, you miss the actual message of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes expresses how The Great King Solomon felt about the vanity of day to day life. Like us he sometimes asked himself, “Why should I care, nothing ever changes.” But then he wrote:
12:13
This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God,
and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
12:14 For God
will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
If day-to-day life is self focused and revolves only around living day-to-day then it is important to re-focus. Life is but a vapor the Bible says. We are only passing through says a song. Joy comes in the morning but we must first get through the night. It is not the daily grind that should command our attention but rather eternity that we should be looking forward to. The life we now lead is but for a moment. “Soon and very soon we are going to see the King”. “Lift up your head redemption draweth nigh”.
Our task should be a preparation for the season to come not for the weather at hand. Solomon said the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commands. Whole means 100%, not 10%. Whole encompasses “Every hour and Every Day, leaning on Jesus in Every Way”.
Fear
doesn’t mean to be afraid of God but to HONOR Him.
When your day
begins it should start with praise and when the day ends it should
be with praise and every moment in between should be IN HIS SERVICE.
Your WHOLE day should be spent honoring God. Everything else is
VANITY !!!
