December 26, 2014
A Gift From God
I recently saw a photo
collage of elderly people (ages 79-107) and their thoughts on staying active
and vibrant. Most of them attributed their longevity to personal lifestyle choices.
All of the pithy sayings were good, and 99 year-old Ida, who is still doing
push-ups said, “Do what you need to do, not what you want to do.” The writer of
Ecclesiastes takes a different view and puts God in the picture. “I know that
there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they
live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find
satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I
know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it
and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him” (Ecc
3:12-15 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Everything is a unit composed of elements that are also units likewise composed of elements being themselves also units. It seems like a childish simplicity, but from it emerges a perception which few people engage in their thinking: nothing is completely correct; nothing is completely incorrect. A seemingly incorrect concept, wrong situation, evil person, or destructive thing - like a gun, as many regard them - are not without some good elements. And vice-versa for good things. So what? So the correctness or incorrectness of any one thing is constrained by the context of the other elements making up a situation immediate to the perusal of its goodness or badness. A pistol in the hand of a thief is a bad thing. A pistol in the hand of a policeman is a good thing, unless in his heart is a dark spot defining him as a tyrannical thug. Generalizations serve limited purposes which can be found only by following analysis of details - their elements.
-----I will agree with Ida should there be an element of her idea she left to assumption, an element of desiring what is needed more than just randomly wanting. Everyone wants. I want a Mustang; I love Mustangs. I want a big house and someone else to clean it, and I want hot baths every night. But I desire to drive what I can afford and maintain what will haul trash to the dump, gravel for my house projects, and furniture and things for my daughters. I desire a moderate house because I must also clean it since I desire integrity in my love, and I will only hot bath when my back needs it with Epsom salt, or my mind needs it and some reading, or my heart needs it in some meditation. It is in tidying up the elements that the units become more tidy. So according to my needs I exercise the freedom Christ gives me for redefining my wants: I don’t want a Mustang or a big house or hot baths every night because the elements of my situation just do not support them. Most people know this at least somewhat.
-----In that regards we can be happy and do good while we live. It is not that satisfaction in toil just happens for us. Like The Preacher said, we must “find satisfaction” in them; we must actively look for what is satisfying about what we must do. For what we must do must be done, and usually when it must be done, too. This is an element subjugated to the bigger unit of righteousness, peace, and joy we want our lives to be. The gift of God is that we can find satisfaction in anything with which we are faced. The more we become skilled in finding satisfaction by redefining our wants first to be our necessities, the more joyful and therefore stronger we become. So now, let’s not forget that God will never try us beyond what we can endure. And if we use His gift of ability to find satisfaction, then it’s resulting strength will increase endurance so God can allow more weighty trials. Oh Boy! Nothing is totally good. Nothing is totally bad.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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