Nothing More to Say

Nothing More to Say
roberts_scott

Scott Roberts, Pastor

Panama City 1st Church of the Nazarene

I often wonder what my life might be like if I live a hundred years. I’m not sure King Solomon was a hundred when he wrote this, but I imagine he had lived through a myriad of experiences as a king. He built great buildings including the Temple in Jerusalem, planted wide vineyards, and expanded the borders of Israel further than ever before. And he even wrote great classics that people still read today. He made it a point to busy himself with all the many different activities he could experience if a person had limitless resources. It was like a great experiment. How far could I sail across the world without falling off? It could be an exciting life full of action and adventure, even romance. Solomon wanted to experience it all. At first Solomon’s experiment had an unexpected conclusion summed up in his words, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” he said, “All is meaningless!” Fortunately, he came to a better conclusion to his life experiment later: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon came to believe that life is heading somewhere, and that somewhere is into the presence of God who created us. One day we will each stand before the Lord and give an account of how we lived. Consequences relative to every choice we make will be given. Solomon deduced that if we want good things then we’ll “fear” or respect God and His expectations of us, or face the negative consequences at the end of our days. Fortunately, Solomon’s words aren’t the last words God gave to the world. If that were the case, we all would be doomed forever. We read in the Scriptures that came later, “All have sinned and fall short (present tense) of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We all have a history of not following God’s commands such that there aren’t enough good things we could ever do to outweigh the bad. The biggest sin we make is to live our lives as if there is no God. How that must feel like a slap in the face of God! The good news is that even if we forget or ignore God and His wishes, God has not forgotten us. Knowing that we need serious help to get on course with Him and to keep following the course that leads to genuine life, God sent His Son into the world. The Son gave His entire life for us so that we might land safely on God’s wonderful shore. All He asks is that we let Him in the boat with us and do His work well. And even when we fail Him, He remains true to us. The name of God’s Son is Jesus the Christ. We know the world is not flat, but life is still full of so many dangers. And with every passing day we come closer to the end of this journey. If we will pay attention to where we are heading and invite Jesus into the boat, He will make sure we land safely on the other side.

April 20, 2019No comments

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