September 24, 2017 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

All of Life is Vanity

Have you read Ecclesiastes lately? Probably not; it’s a depressive book to read. Solomon writes about wisdom but in comparison to life in general. In the end, he states, “that life can be not worth living.” Not a book for the young in heart and spirit or young in age.

You need to read the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12.Well, here it is—read it!

1 Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2 before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; 3 in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened, 4 and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; 5 yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity. 9 And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12 And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
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. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

The last two verses always get me—it is easy to be convicted by God’s Word. Let’s recap what wisdom says: one, you will get old and become bitter; two, there is an end to all things and it is very dark and without hope; three, there are words of wisdom and knowledge that are ‘words of truth’ but a lot of studying will get you nowhere; and four, God will have the final say to all things you do—nothing will be hid, so what God says you ought to do, do!

I am now part of the generation that knows and sees the end of things coming upon the earth. Not only will my life end, but mankind is on a collision course with the judgment of God. It is inescapable and was determined before the earth was created. It seems we all know this fact, but we live as if it will not come to pass.

Let me offer this hope, “It does not have to be like this!” How do I escape becoming bitter, seeing only darkness everywhere, always learning but without knowledge, and standing before God without redemption? The answer, Jesus Christ—the hope of the world. It is only “in Him”—literally that I avoid the vanity of life. Wisdom says, want life—you must want Christ. It is just that simple…what would Jesus have me to do?

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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