Inside Out Living

"Have no fear, have no fear, said the cat in the hat.” I read that line today at lunch in the book I was reading to my daughter. As I was reading it, I thought about our theme this week and the subsequent mess that the cat in the hat made. Fortunately for the children in the story, the cat cleaned up his mess, but life doesn’t always play out like a Dr. Seuss book.

Today we read about more kings over God’s people that made one mess after the other. The idolatry they allowed showed a total lack of fear towards the LORD. What do we see as a result of this lack of fear? We see the consequence of incurring God’s judgment. Both Joash, king of Judah (2 Chr. 24:24), and Jehoahaz, king of Israel (2 Kings 13:2-3), invited God’s judgment on their people because they didn’t fear God and practiced idolatry.

So why should we fear God? We fear God because He is the one who judges our actions (Eccl. 12:13-14). We fear God because of the consequences that result when our actions invite His judgment.

I have a problem. You may very well have the same problem. I often find myself thinking that it will be easier to honor God and make Him more of a priority in my life down the road. If I can just survive until some day in the future, life will be better and easier, right? Not necessarily.

The older I get the more I realize that if I don’t make the changes now, I probably won’t do it in the future.

Solomon exhorts his readers to “Honor God in your youth” (Eccl. 12:1). We are not to wait until we are older to take God seriously, but rather we are to do it today.

A while back, my wife and I enjoyed the movie The Last Holiday. In that movie, the lead character made a decision to enjoy life and start working towards her dreams. As you can imagine, her life changed drastically and she finally truly enjoyed her life.

It took a doctor’s report that she was dying in order to change her life. What will it take for you to really start living today? When will you make God and His perfect will for your life a priority?

Have you ever had a chance to sit on the beach and enjoy the sunset? Another sight that I really enjoy is to watch the sunrise over the alfalfa fields of the high desert in the fall with the cool air of a frosty morning surrounding me. Of course these sights pale in comparison to that of my three-year-old daughter’s smile.

In writing Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes it clear that enjoying the simple things in life is okay, and I think it even brings pleasure to God. In the second half of this book we read that we can enjoy prosperity (7:14), eating (8:15), drinking (8:15), life (8:15) and marriage (9:9).

Life is something that is meant to be enjoyed. It is a gift from God and it is a desire of God to see His children enjoying His gift. We are still living in God’s creation and He is still that author and sustainer of life even though the world has been tainted by sin. Remember, “Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all Heaven’s lights…” (James 1:17).

The book of Ecclesiastes is filled with numerous observations about how life tends to work in general. Written by Solomon towards the end of his life, it is a reflection on much of what he has learned. Solomon lived a far from simple life and, in this book, he recounts some of his attempts to enjoy life.

Why does life have to be so complicated? The main reason life gets complicated is because of the person staring back at you in the mirror. Like Solomon we strive after money, power, career success, pleasure and knowledge in our efforts to bring meaning to our lives.

Rather than pursuing these avenues, we are to find our meaning and purpose in God. God is the one who establishes our purpose and destiny (Eccl. 6:10). We are to fear God (3:14; 5:7) and enjoy the benefits of the work he has for us to do (3:13; 5:12).

Are you fighting against God in your life? Are you striving for those things that do not satisfy? Try simplifying your life. Tell that person in the mirror that God is in control and you will find meaning and purpose in Him.

Solomon inherited a peaceful kingdom from his father David. Early in his reign Solomon and his people enjoyed living in peace (1 Kings 4:24-25). In all his wisdom, Solomon did not realize that the success of his Kingdom and the peace that he and his people enjoyed was dependent upon his obedience to the Lord.

As we read today, Solomon’s life and reign as king became increasingly more complicated as his heart wandered from the Lord. He was constantly building new and different shrines and altars as he attempted to keep his many wives happy. Then there were the political issues and the Lord raised up different adversaries to Solomon.

Instead of chasing religion like Solomon, we ought to be more like the blind man in John 9, who experienced healing at the hands (and spit) of Jesus. When he was questioned about the one who healed him, he said, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner, but I know this; I was blind, and now I can see” (John 9:25).

The theme for this week is simplicity. This concept is brought out especially in the book of Ecclesiastes. We are not looking at simplicity as the ultimate goal of life during this week, for bringing pleasure to God is our greatest purpose. Rather we are studying and thinking about simplicity because of the many connections that exist between obediently following God, making wise decisions and living a simple life.

Today's Devotional:

God created sex (Gen 2:24-25) and blesses it in the proper context of a committed, loving marriage relationship. This book is a beautiful description of the intimate relationship that takes place between a husband and a wife.

Many have wondered how Solomon, the author of this book, could have written such a beautiful love poem considering his 700 wives and 300 concubines. It is most likely written about his relationship with his first wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. The playfulness and intimacy they share is reflective of a simpler time in Solomon’s reign before the building projects and rapid expansion of his wealth and influence. Solomon had it all – God’s blessing, money, wisdom, power, influence and women. And yet the more he had, the worse his relationship with God became.

Many lives have been complicated and pain compounded as a result of extramarital affairs. Not only is it an obedience issue, it makes for a far simpler life if we heed Proverbs 5:18, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.”

“God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb” (Eccl. 11:5).

I would imagine that at this moment Job would very much relate to the above verse. Job is struggling to reconcile his current state with how he has lived his life. We all struggle with this same issue; we often ask the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This may be an exclusively American question, though, because the majority of us live a charmed life compared to the rest of the world.
A key principle we learn from Job is that living a righteous life will not guarantee a life free of trials and grief. The purpose of living a righteous life or a life of obedience to God is not to manipulate God into blessing us, but rather to bring pleasure to our Heavenly Father who loves us.