The Secret of Life

There is an emphasis in the American life of being significant. We should have a purpose driven life. The promise is we will find fulfillment when we determine our purpose and achieve that purpose. The good kid goes through college and earns a good degree. He finds a good job and has dreams of climbing the ladder. Five or ten years latter, disillusion sets in when work becomes a daily grind. Where is fulfillment?

The young woman marries, has children and spends her life raising the kids. I applaud this mother. After 15-20 years of hard work, she finds teenagers living in her house that believe they know everything and their mother knows nothing. Where is fulfillment?

No matter where we look in the world, we will ultimately run out of hope there is fulfillment in the things we do. The person who has a bad relationship with God is in a bad place. Nothing will fix the problem.

It can be different for those with a repaired relationship with God. Repair of their relationship with God comes when they have realized they are hopeless and they have turned from their wrong ways and accepted the grace available through the sacrifice of Jesus. A person in this position can let go of the vain struggle for significance through our efforts and find significance in the mundane life we live because of the presence of God in our lives.

If you read Ecclesiastes, one of two things will happen. You will despair because all life is vanity. The other option is to understand the life on this earth will not bring fulfillment, it will only come through a relationship with God. A relationship on God’s terms, not ours. You can see this in one verse that I found.

Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:11

Lord, help me to live this life with Your perspective. This will enable me to live the full life, pursuing the right things, giving up the pursuit of things that will not satisfy. Help me to be satisfied with the rich blessing you have given.

Worship

Psalm 150 tells us of many different ways to praise (worship) God. The first half of the psalm talks about praising God for who He is. The second half talks about different ways to praise God. So what is the point?

The first is obvious, that God deserves our praise. If we came face to face with God, our only reaction would be to worship Him. In His wisdom, we are shielded from God’s glory. The reason is that God desires true worship. The automatic worship of someone who is face-to-face with God is not of the same nature of the voluntary worship of a person who worships God in faith.

Another point is the method of praise. There are seven instruments mentioned and the expression of worship through dance. The number of ways of worship is expressed tells me that worship is a personal expression. Some people can play one instrument or another, others can dance, others can sing. These are expressions of worship of the heart, true worship that is busting out of a person.

On one level I long for this type of worship. I am tired of the same old routine, the dullness of church. But as I think about it, this type of worship is revolutionary and is bound to make some people uncomfortable. That is the wonder and unexpected nature of the appearance and/or work of God. I think I am ready to see God bust out and live with the loss of my comfort level.

Amos the Labradoodle

This morning, as usual, I took Amos outside for him to do his duty. My custom with Amos is to attach a rope to his collar so if necessary I can grab the rope to encourage Amos to go inside when I think it is time. Amos has found the paper that is on the driveway to be very interesting. No, he has not learned how to read yet, but he does love to pick up the paper and run around the yard with his prize. Amos knows if I call him to come inside he does not have to listen, unless I hold the rope. The other day I found out that just stepping on the rope was not enough proof for Amos; I had to pick it up. When I have the end of the rope in my hand and tell Amos to come inside, he runs right up to the door. There is no need to use the rope to pull him toward the door.

After we went inside, Amos ran upstairs and jumped in bed with Lori and I sat down to read some from the Bible. This morning I started with Psalm 104, which describes the complete control that God has over every facet of creation.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth. Psalm 104:6-9 (NIV)

God speaks and creation obeys. You could say there is a rope on the collar of every element of creation and the rope is in God’s hand. When God speaks, creation obeys.

When I have an obvious display of my lack of control over simple things, like this morning with Amos, it is comforting to know that God, my Father, has control of everything. I do not have to be in control.