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Today is Friday July 30, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapters 9-12. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-july-30
Today's Message: True Pleasures
It is amazing to learn of the things that one treasures, some people treasure what the world can give them, such as wealth and riches, and are usually hoarded. Some people treasure little things that are given to them, something that is precious to them and will never let go of them. Some people treasure what is in their mind and keep it safely retained in there until the day they die. Jesus Said, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” - Luke 12:33,34. What we treasure the most is determined by what the heart desires. Perhaps one of the most deceptive things that we carry around with us is our hearts. The heart is what keeps the blood pumping, not only the physical blood, but the spiritual blood as well. I always tell my Sunday school students that when we call on Jesus to save us that we get an invisible blood transfusion that takes away all our dirty blood and gives us fresh clean blood from Jesus. The things the heart longs for can either pump dirty or clean blood into our souls. However, only we can make it long for them, if we are seeking godly things the heart will long for those, likewise, if we are seeking worldly things the heart will long for those. Interestingly enough though, when we give our hearts to God He places new desires upon them and gives us treasures that nothing here on earth can compare to.
No one recorded in the Bible or history has as much experience about this matter as King Solomon. He was the wisest and richest man of all time, yet time and time again he got himself into more trouble by following his heart rather than giving it all to God. “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 9:1-6. The Holy Spirit led Solomon to warn us of the consequences of seeking the desires of the heart when God is not in it. He reminds us that whatever wealth, knowledge, or possessions we have here on earth become meaningless to us when we die. We can not take any of it with us and we will forget all about them in heaven, so there is no point in holding on to them. When Solomon says, done under the sun, he is referring to what is done here on earth, not in heaven.
When we begin to seek the things that are in the world, our heart turns away from God and turns toward what it finds pleasure in, but there comes a time in our lives when we must grow up and stop seeking pleasure in something that will never truly satisfy, only when we give our hearts completely over to God will we find true pleasure. “A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.” - Ecclesiastes 10:2,3,12-15. A fools heart is never happy and always looking for secular things to give it pleasure. Did you ever get around someone who loves to talk a lot, but you never get anything out of what he says? They have all these ideas, yet never get anywhere with them. That is a fool who is looking to please himself by wasting his time getting others to do his work for him because he does not know what he is doing. I have a customer that asks me to create a website for him every year and every year it is something different that he is trying to do to make money on. I cringe whenever he contacts me because he is cheap and always has something to complain about, whether it was something he asked me to do or someone else. People like that are never happy and are always wasting precious time (yours and theirs) trying to get rich instead of just doing the work they need to be doing.
In our youth, it's easy to fall for the things of the world because we are learning and growing, but as we grow we learn that life is not all about having fun, and I am talking about the worldly kind of fun here. There is a difference between being satisfied physically and be satisfied spiritually, physical satisfaction is only temporary, we feel great for the moment, but afterward we are longing for more. However, spiritual satisfaction is eternal, we feel great even when things are not. Therefore we need to seek to satisfy the spirit and the only way to do that is by giving our heart completely to God. “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.” - Ecclesiastes 11:5-10. God knows our hearts, He knows every little thing that we secretly desire, whether it's good or evil and we will be judged according to them.
Solomon spent his lifetime searching for pleasure from every worldly source, he used the word vanity over thirty times in the Book of Ecclesiastes and concluded that ignoring the Word of God was the vanity of vanities, we need to fear God and keep His commands if we want the true desires of the heart. Solomon concluded, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” - Ecclesiastes 12:13,14. True pleasure in life results from giving one's time, talents, and resources to fulfill the will of God. This is the only true source of happiness, peace of mind, and genuine enjoyment in life. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a wonderful weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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