so i was thinking of how i was going to summarize this week. and what sean taught on. and how much it tears me up inside. and how it convicts me. and i found this. Joy wrote it. its pretty much like perfect.
Nothing has meaning, nothing is ever finished, nothing is under our
control, no one ever cares, nothing satisfies, nothing is original, no
one will ever remember you, and then you die.
A very realistic sum of what life is like [under the sun]. Everything
is meaningless and all is vanity. But even in the most mundane routines
in life, we can have hope.
Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink
and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of
God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
Joy doesn't depend on the kind of food that you're eating, or what kind
of work that you're doing. It depends on the source, and since the
Source is ever full, so should be our joy. Joy comes right in the
middle of toil, and eating, and friendships, and deaths, and sunny
days, and failures. It depends solely on the unchanging, never dry
Creator and Sustainer. And life without it is worse than no life at
all. So enough with chasing after the wind, which can never be caught,
and if it could, would still be useless and fleeting! Enough of that!!
Nothing in this life under the sun can satisfy except for what is
beyond it. Popularity won't, power won't, knowledge won't, money won't,
marriage won't, respect won't, good deeds won't, lies won't, God will.
But if I don't know my role, I'll never enjoy the process. The role is
to fear God and keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of man.
All that all of men have to do with all of themselves. Fearing Him
isn't being afraid if you mess up, but living every moment, not taking
a step, without thinking about how it relates to God. It's caring more
about His character and standards and authority and greatness than our
own. "Our own" doesn't even exist anyways, just like "much of us"
doesn't. I exist for no other reason than this. To fear, worship, love
and know Him. The only priority.
I just want to change my whole heart and life, and have the
all-consuming attitude of real fear of God, and His Son who embraced
and conquered the vanity to make it possible for us to have true joy!
He fulfilled that hope. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning, if I
do, and have another chance to live like it's all a worship service,
and to learn how to live all of this out, and to change everything. I
don't want to waste my life chasing. I want to find the joy, open it,
and bask in it, this hour.
"Be advised to spare your pains and spend your strength for that which will turn to more profit." -George Swinnock
So take my heart and form it, take my mind and transform it, take my will and conform it to Yours, to Yours, O Lord.
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