Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
So what did Sol deduce from his extensive search for the purpose and meaning of this earthly life? No one was better suited to conduct this survey than him. He had the available time, wisdom, money, help; everything needed to do it properly. In the end he acknowledges that a man should work faithfully and enjoy the fruits of his labour; that’s his reward. However, setting the acquisition of wisdom, knowledge, artistic goods, material riches, prominent positions and such worldly things as our goal is all vanity, because we die and leave them all behind for others to fight over and/or enjoy. So what’s our purpose down here then? The ultimate purpose he concludes, is to ‘Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.’ What a pronouncement Friends! That’s what the wisest man deduced from his extensive survey. As he keeps saying, all else is vanity. But this shouldn’t have been such a momentous revelation, for way back when the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses said to them: ‘And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him; and to serve the Lord with all thy heart and with all thy soul.’ (Deut.10:12) And Friends, it hasn’t changed one iota since then. Sol searched diligently and got the same result. Later on, the Prophet Micah said likewise: ‘He hath showed thee O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’ (Mic.6:8) This means people, that the guiding light, in whatever we say or do, must be the reverence of God and the keeping of His dictates. ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ Yes Friends, all our acts and words, good or bad, shall be judged on that fateful day the Lord appoints. Sol himself warns: ‘Rejoice, O young man in thy youth…but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement.’ (Eccle.11:9) Jesus reinforced this. ‘But I say unto you. That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.’ (Mat.12:36) Bruh Paul also referred to it several times in his letters to the churches. ‘Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness..’ (Acts 17:31) So there it is in a nutshell Friends. Sol worked his way through all the pleasures of the world, only to find them lacking, to discover that our main purpose on this earth is to LOVE and serve God faithfully. All else is vanity; useless, with a hefty price to pay later on. ‘For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body…whether it be good or bad.’ (2 Cor.5:10) If that doesn’t spur us on to do good things with a right heart, then Friends, I don’t know what else will. Much LOVE!…him that don’t hear…shall surely feel…
So what did Sol deduce from his extensive search for the purpose and meaning of this earthly life? No one was better suited to conduct this survey than him. He had the available time, wisdom, money, help; everything needed to do it properly. In the end he acknowledges that a man should work faithfully and enjoy the fruits of his labour; that’s his reward. However, setting the acquisition of wisdom, knowledge, artistic goods, material riches, prominent positions and such worldly things as our goal is all vanity, because we die and leave them all behind for others to fight over and/or enjoy. So what’s our purpose down here then? The ultimate purpose he concludes, is to ‘Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.’ What a pronouncement Friends! That’s what the wisest man deduced from his extensive survey. As he keeps saying, all else is vanity. But this shouldn’t have been such a momentous revelation, for way back when the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses said to them: ‘And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him; and to serve the Lord with all thy heart and with all thy soul.’ (Deut.10:12) And Friends, it hasn’t changed one iota since then. Sol searched diligently and got the same result. Later on, the Prophet Micah said likewise: ‘He hath showed thee O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’ (Mic.6:8) This means people, that the guiding light, in whatever we say or do, must be the reverence of God and the keeping of His dictates. ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ Yes Friends, all our acts and words, good or bad, shall be judged on that fateful day the Lord appoints. Sol himself warns: ‘Rejoice, O young man in thy youth…but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement.’ (Eccle.11:9) Jesus reinforced this. ‘But I say unto you. That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.’ (Mat.12:36) Bruh Paul also referred to it several times in his letters to the churches. ‘Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness..’ (Acts 17:31) So there it is in a nutshell Friends. Sol worked his way through all the pleasures of the world, only to find them lacking, to discover that our main purpose on this earth is to LOVE and serve God faithfully. All else is vanity; useless, with a hefty price to pay later on. ‘For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body…whether it be good or bad.’ (2 Cor.5:10) If that doesn’t spur us on to do good things with a right heart, then Friends, I don’t know what else will. Much LOVE!…him that don’t hear…shall surely feel…
SCRIP-BITS 