The fruits—I’ll read ‘flowers’–of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, and some of these grow only in the canyon.”
–Ralph Connor (The Sky Pilot)
“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
–Philippians 1:29(NKJV)
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“Woe is me,” comes the cry. “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me… This world is tough and everything happens to me. Why, if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all,” says the common man. But it is also from the thoughts of King Solomon, a man of wealth and riches. He writes, “It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.” (Ecclesiastes 1:13 (NASB)
Paul continues this thought when he writes, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22, NKJV) Man moans and groans, but so does creation. I think that is one of the reasons why we see such devastating storms today along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Surely they are signs of the times–the creation is groaning and moaning.
People ask why? But do they really want the answer? They would rather seek the “truth” of science. They want a bandaid put on the problem rather than have spiritual surgery and cut it out. Samuel Cox says, “Those who raise the question, ‘Is life worth living?’ answer it by–living on; for no man lives simply to proclaim what a worthless and wretched creature he is.” However, I will say that some relish having “bad” things happen to them. Some want to moan and then tell you how hard they’ve had it.
Life doesn’t get easier if you try to run away from it. Alcoholics, druggies, even workaholics are running, trying to escape from reality. Yet, life only gets harder when people try to escape. Even with all the “progress” that is proclaimed, there are some things that cannot be changed. Unless there is a great moral and spiritual awakening thing will only continue to get worse. Solomon says that even with all his great wisdom and knowledge there is also much folly (Ecclesiasters 1:15-18). It goes back to the question, “What is truth?” No matter how much knowledge we gain it will not solve every problem. Changing the environment does not change the heart. Escaping, running away, does not change the situation.
One reason I especially like the Book of Ecclesiastes is that it deals with human life–reality. It deals with some of the saddest facts of life, “the errors that have diverted men
from their true aim, and plunge them into a various and growing misery.” (Samuel Cox) What are we doing with our life? A pastor friend of mine used to say, “Life is for living,” yet so many run from the reality of life. And truly, Jesus says that we are to worship in spirit and in truth (reality). By running away, by escaping we cannot be truly worshiping with our lives. Cox writes, “Our lower aims and possessions become vanities to us only when we seek in them that supreme satisfaction which He who has ‘put eternity into our hearts’ designed us to find only in Him and in serving Him.”
We are to worship with our lives. It is not only a Sunday morning occurrence. It is not only to happen when people go to the front during the song service. It is to be a moment-by-moment act of our wills–our lives. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul (will, emotions), and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). How many truly worship with their mind? Their will? Far too many think that worship involves on the heart and the emotions.
True worship is needed by believers. Not a pseudo-worship, not a feel-good-all-the-time worship, in fact much of worship will come in the midst of trial, sorrow, and suffering. I always refer to the Shorter Westminster Catechism: Our aim, our goal, our purpose, our worship–is to “Glorify God and enjoy Him forever!”
——————————–
“Woe is me,” comes the cry. “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me… This world is tough and everything happens to me. Why, if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all,” says the common man. But it is also from the thoughts of King Solomon, a man of wealth and riches. He writes, “It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.” (Ecclesiastes 1:13 (NASB)
Paul continues this thought when he writes, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22, NKJV) Man moans and groans, but so does creation. I think that is one of the reasons why we see such devastating storms today along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Surely they are signs of the times–the creation is groaning and moaning.
People ask why? But do they really want the answer? They would rather seek the “truth” of science. They want a bandaid put on the problem rather than have spiritual surgery and cut it out. Samuel Cox says, “Those who raise the question, ‘Is life worth living?’ answer it by–living on; for no man lives simply to proclaim what a worthless and wretched creature he is.” However, I will say that some relish having “bad” things happen to them. Some want to moan and then tell you how hard they’ve had it.
Life doesn’t get easier if you try to run away from it. Alcoholics, druggies, even workaholics are running, trying to escape from reality. Yet, life only gets harder when people try to escape. Even with all the “progress” that is proclaimed, there are some things that cannot be changed. Unless there is a great moral and spiritual awakening thing will only continue to get worse. Solomon says that even with all his great wisdom and knowledge there is also much folly (Ecclesiasters 1:15-18). It goes back to the question, “What is truth?” No matter how much knowledge we gain it will not solve every problem. Changing the environment does not change the heart. Escaping, running away, does not change the situation.
One reason I especially like the Book of Ecclesiastes is that it deals with human life–reality. It deals with some of the saddest facts of life, “the errors that have diverted men
from their true aim, and plunge them into a various and growing misery.” (Samuel Cox) What are we doing with our life? A pastor friend of mine used to say, “Life is for living,” yet so many run from the reality of life. And truly, Jesus says that we are to worship in spirit and in truth (reality). By running away, by escaping we cannot be truly worshiping with our lives. Cox writes, “Our lower aims and possessions become vanities to us only when we seek in them that supreme satisfaction which He who has ‘put eternity into our hearts’ designed us to find only in Him and in serving Him.”
We are to worship with our lives. It is not only a Sunday morning occurrence. It is not only to happen when people go to the front during the song service. It is to be a moment-by-moment act of our wills–our lives. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul (will, emotions), and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). How many truly worship with their mind? Their will? Far too many think that worship involves on the heart and the emotions.
True worship is needed by believers. Not a pseudo-worship, not a feel-good-all-the-time worship, in fact much of worship will come in the midst of trial, sorrow, and suffering. I always refer to the Shorter Westminster Catechism: Our aim, our goal, our purpose, our worship–is to “Glorify God and enjoy Him forever!”