Prerequisites For Purposeful Living Series

A woman in a contemporary play is complaining about her hollow

living, and she says to another, "Don't you get the feeling that this is a

broken world, something like a watch? The parts are all there, and it

looks all right, but the main spring is broken and it no longer has

meaning. Life looks right, but it's meaning is missing. It's main

spring is gone." Many modern people feel like her that meaning is

missing. The result is all kinds of wild and ridiculous ways to recover

meaning, or at least to establish some goal.

In another play called Catch 22 one of the characters named

Dunbar makes long life his goal and the only purpose for which he

lives. His goal leads him to unbelievable nonsense. He is depressed

because time goes so fast, and since his goal is longer life he goes to

any length to make life seem longer. He notices that when he does

things that he dislikes the time drags, and so he figured if he fills his

days with tasks that he dislikes and even despises, life will seem so

much longer. Without a doubt, he is right. And unpleasant life would

seem longer, but to sacrifice all quality for the sake of mere quantity is

certainly eligible for the label of folly.

The Christian, of course, is committed to a life of growing quality.

Jesus came that we might have life abundant, and both Old and New

Testaments make it clear that the believer is to advance in wisdom

and in favor with God and man. Solomon has already made it clear

that the fear of the Lord is the beginning, or principle part, of

knowledge, but now in chapter 2 he gives us a list of prerequisites,

which are necessary to gain this key factor, which makes the believer's

life meaningful and purposeful. Notice that in verse 5 he says, "Then

you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of

God." What is that? It is what comes after one has fulfilled the

conditions described in the first four verses. If we fulfill these

purposeful living is guaranteed. The firsts prerequisite is that we

must be-

I. RECEPTIVE.

This, of course, is the first requirement in gaining the benefits of any

teaching or philosophy of life. Even God's own children do not

benefit by His abundant provisions if they do not receive them. Notice

that the father recognizes that he cannot compel his son to receive his

words. He can only seek to convince him of the value in doing so, and

of the folly of not doing so. Receptivity is totally the responsibility of

the individual. You can talk about giving your child an education, but

this is not really accurate. All anyone can do is make an education

available. Only the child can make it actual by being receptive to that

which is made available.

Knowledge and wisdom, like Christ, can stand at the door and

knock, but they only gain entrance when we open the door and receive

them. The Gospel was available to the Auca Indians through the 5

missionaries who flew to them, but they were unreceptive, and the

result was death for the missionaries and continued darkness for

them. It was only when they became receptive that they were

redeemed. We see that from the very beginning of one's encounter

with God, to the highest degree of fellowship and sanctification,

receptivity is a basic requirement. Solomon says, "Son, if you will

receive my words, you can reject them or ignore them, but if you are

receptive you will fulfill the first prerequisite for purposeful living."

The second is to be

II. RETENTIVE.

If you store up my commands, or as the RSV has it, "..treasure

up my commandments." This is just another way of saying the same

thing as was said in the first clause, but it carries with it the thought of

retaining what is received. Store up is stronger than receive.

Solomon goes from the general to the particular, and his second clause

strengthens the first and fills up the weakness of the first if it is left

alone. The Bible is not wordy and does not just repeat the same idea

in another way for no good reason. This added emphasis is necessary,

for it has to be recognized that it is possible to be receptive and still let

what has been received be lost.

It can go in one ear and out the other. A sieve and a sponge are

both receptive, but only the sponge is retentive. If what we receive is

not retained for application when it is needed, you are no longer off

than those who have never been taught. It is possible to pass a test by