Making Life Count For Something
Isaiah 55:1&2
1- Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2- Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Eccl 12:8 (NIV) "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Everything is meaningless!"
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.
10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails--given by one Shepherd.
12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole [duty] of man.
Introduction:
When I was a homeowner, I had a yard...that’s a yard as opposed to a lawn. The difference between the two is found in their composition and appearance. A yard is composed of some grass, lots of weeds, and is usually not too tidy or trim. A lawn, on the other hand, is grass; green, rich grass...weedless, well watered, about an inch and a half in height...yeah...I had a yard.
But I discovered that I actually might have been one the “save the planet” side of things. Yup! I’ve found that tree huggers considered my yard an “organic lawn”! That’s right! Organic! Now there’s a word that carries a lot of clout nowadays. Yes, an organic lawn. Of course, there are requirements in order for the earth firsters to accept a lawn as organic; not just every lawn qualifies, I’m afraid. An organic lawn must be unsprayed, unfertilized, unwatered, and oh yes, uncut. Just call me Mr. Natural.
You know, there’s a tremendous amount of social prestige in having a nice lawn, and a tremendous amount of pressure as well. Had a neighbor one time who had a perfect lawn. I don’t have to describe it for you; you’ve already got the picture in your heads. He was always kind of glancing over sideways at my yard...and I’m almost positive that I could hear him sniff with disdain over the purring of his electric mower. That lawn was his life’s work. He was retired, and spent hour after hour making his square of green look like something out of a golfing magazine. Yeah, lots of pressure there.
I’m almost convinced that the whole thing is the result of some international, corporate plot, after all, lawns had originally be the marque of wealth and prestige. But over the past 150 years the concept of having a lawn has been popularized. Grasses have been developed; the lawn mower, rubber hoses, sprinklers, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides have all been invented, manufactured, and marketed. So where God had originally planted dandelions, violets, clover, thistle, and other stuff, which are tough, and grow anywhere without care, and attract butterflies, honey bees, and songbirds, we dig it all up and plant...grass.
The way we act toward grass makes no sense whatsoever. We take great pains to keep the stuff healthy and growing. We fertilize it in the spring, but as soon as it starts to grow pretty good, we dig out the mower and cut it off! Then, we rake it up, buy bags to put it in, and pay someone to take it away. When it’s growth starts to slow in the heat of the summer, we haul out hoses and pay to water it so it can grow so we can cut it so we can pay to have it taken away again.
Anyone interested in a dollar figure for this whole process? Ready for this? In North America, over 40 billion (that’s right, BILLION...that’s 40 and nine zeroes...) Dollars are spent EACH YEAR on...you guessed it...lawn care. That’s like 8000 people working 40 hours a week and paying $100.00 per hour all for the great joy of having a lawn…and doing it for 24 years. Or it’s like you working 15 hours a day, six days a week, and paying $1000.00 for every hour you work....and doing it for 8500 years. All to plant, care for, and cut a crop that you can’t eat, sell, or make into anything useful.
Now that’s empty labour.
8500 years of mowing the lawn, an indentured servant to a green rectangle. Doesn’t it frustrate you just to think about it? To put it in perspective, try thinking of this: to go 8500 years into the past would take you back over 4000 years before the birth of Abraham! When the foundations of Egypt’s most ancient pyramids were being laid, you’d have already been working for over 3000 years. 8500 years of labour with absolutely nothing to show for it. When others were building pyramids and founding nations, you were busy mowing the lawn.
That’s spending your labour for what doesn’t satisfy.
I. Luke 12:16-20 The Rich Man
That’s what some of you have done all of your lives; worked for nothing. I don’t mean that you haven’t received wages, but that your best strengths and efforts have been spent on things that are hollow and fruitless. Make work, empty labour, like digging a ditch and filling it back in...over and over again. Investing the best years of your life in things that are not lasting...about to look eternity in the face...do you ever wonder what your life has counted for?
In Luke 12:16-20, Jesus told of a man who had worked very hard. He’d been smart with his money, smart with his farming, and he was ready to put a lot of cash into expansion. New barns! Bigger barns! Take a larger salary! Relax and enjoy life a bit more! He’d scrimped when he had to. He’d saved. He’d laboured. He was not a stranger to sweat and callouses. Yet God interrupted all of his planning with the statement, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” All of the rich man’s labour was shortly to prove in vain, for death would call him at the pinnacle of his prosperity.
Jesus didn’t condemn this man’s wealth, his acquisitiveness, or his labour. The man was good at what he did, careful with what he earned, and wise in his investments. There was nothing necessarily ill gotten about his gains. What then was so wrong that God would call him a fool? It was the fact that he had laboured and planned for things that were merely temporary, without giving any thought to things eternal.
So what would become of all his labour? Who would be the recipient of all his efforts? His heirs? His partners? The government? Would his goods be stolen and his barns fall to ruin? Who knows? The point of the story is that all of his effort counted for nothing in the end. He spent himself on things that would vanish in a moment with no thought of the things that would endure forever.
That’s empty labour.
II. Solomon’s Summary of Searching
As we opened we read Solomon’s summary of the book of Ecclesiastes: “Fear God. Keep His commandments. This is the whole duty of man.” Solomon. Now there was a man who understood the frustration of empty labour. You know how some people talk like they’ve experienced everything the world has to offer? Well, Solomon had. Everything from sobriety to drunkenness, from the worship of God to the worship of idols...he’d climbed the heights of philosophy and plumbed the depths of depravity. So when you read Ecclesiastes, the weariness of Solomon is very plain to see. In fact, the entire book is largely devoted to expressing the frustration of empty labour. One word serves as the key word in the book, and it’s the one word that describes it all; vanity.
“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.” Emptiness. Useless. Foolishness. A waste. All of his strength spent...for nothing. All of his mental energies exhausted...pointlessly. All of his spiritual energies wasted...for no purpose. And “vanity” is the word he used to sum up his life of empty labour.
In this book Solomon details his pursuit of pleasure and beauty. He gave himself to it, spent himself in it. He wanted to know pleasure, to experience beauty. After sampling all he would, he recorded his feelings as, “Vanity. It’s all madness.”
He also tells of his acquisition of wealth and power; how he gained and achieved everything he desired. His was Israel’s golden age of peace and prosperity. Yet his post script of those untroubled days was, “Vanity. It’s all profitless.”
So he turned to seek wisdom and knowledge, and records that there was nothing he heard of that he didn’t search out. His wisdom grew legendary, even in is own time. But still he summed it all up saying, “It’s vanity, and I’ve worn myself out for nothing.”
Yes, Ecclesiastes is the story of Solomon’s life of empty labour. So you see, you’re not the only one who has worked for nothing. The greatest of the greats and the wisest of the wise have done so too. The positive thing about this is that you can read Solomon’s final lesson in life before you reach the ending of your own. This lesson is the thing that he’d no doubt wished he’d learned early on, the thing that could have transformed his life from one of empty labour to a life that counted in eternity.
III. Solomon’s Final Message
Solomon’s last lesson, and his final message to the world is found in Ecclesiastes 12:13, where he writes, “Fear God. Keep His commandments. This is the whole duty of man.” Everything that will count for anything in humanity must find it’s root in these; “Fear God. Keep His commandments.” Everything that will be lasting, that will endure into eternity finds it’s origin in those brief statements, “Fear God. Keep His commandments.”
Many people have hungered for the pleasures of this world, some even as relentlessly as Solomon did. And usually their testimony is the same as his hollow cry; “All is vanity, emptiness, useless. The pleasure passes like a breath, the happiness fades in a moment, and I am left as empty as before.”
The answer? “Fear God!” The Scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is clean, and it endures forever. (Ps 19:9) The fear of the Lord is a cleansing agent. It cleanses the heart and mind, and purifies the motivations. The fear of the Lord creates in us a sense of the clean pleasures of life; those free of shame and guilt. The fear of the Lord puts you in a frame of ind to be receptive to His presence, and the Bible tells us that “in His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Others have pursued materialism and position, believing that the ownership of things and the prestige of position would provide them with satisfaction. To no avail! For gaining more brought the desire for more still until the passion for gain had used them up. Prestige didn’t soothe their hearts or calm their griefs; it only veiled them for a little while.
The Bible’s answer to those tired of longing? “Fear God!” For the Scripture says that goodness is laid up for those who fear the Lord.(Ps31:19) Goodness, meaning beauty, joy, gladness. Goodness, meaning physical good and prosperity. Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.” You can be freed from the never ending desire for gain, and delivered from the thirst for assurance. The prophet Isaiah said, “Ho! Everyone that thirsteth! Come ye to the waters!” Jesus said, “If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink. He that believes on Me as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water!” And this Jesus said concerning the Holy Ghost that those who believe on Him should receive.
Some have sought wisdom and understanding. Filled with questions about life, they have searched in education, various philosophies and religions, until the attempt to find answers has only created more questions.
The wise man’s answer? “Fear God!” For the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.(Ps 111:10) It is in the presence of the Lord that the answers to life’s great questions are found. And there is the amazing discovery that some of the questions weren’t important after all. God’s wisdom will provide you with direction for your life, with skill in your dealings with others, and with answers to your spiritual searching. The Scripture says that God will show you the path of life, and that the path of life will take you into His presence.
Fear God! And keep His commandments!
Jesus was asked one time which was the greatest commandment out of all of the many that God had given. Jesus responded that the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Literally this means to love God with the centre of your entire physical and spiritual being, to love him with the very breath that you breathe, and to search out His ways so that you might understand more of Him. You might think that you can’t please God, that there was no way you could be a Christian. But let me tell you that pleasing God isn’t a problem to those who love God this way.
But of course, to love Him you must know Him. You must have been introduced to Him before you can begin to love Him. To know Jesus you must be born again! You must come to Him, accepting what He says in His word about your life, and believing that He’ll receive you. In coming to Jesus you must repent of your sins...that is, being sorry for your sins, seeking His forgiveness, and then turning your back on your old life with the determination to live differently. You must be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ in order that your sins can be washed away, and then God promises to fill you with the precious gift of His Spirit. All of the things you say are impossible for you won’t seem so difficult when His Spirit is living inside. And oh! How you’ll begin to love Him then! For to know Him is to love Him!
You don’t have to spend the rest of your days in empty labour, forever seeking, forever searching, forever thirsting. Your life can count for something eternal. The way to making your life count is simple, tried, and true; Fear God, and Keep His Commandments.
