Everything is pointless and then you die...

So did I get your attention with the title? I hope so. :-) I've been waiting a long time to hear from the LORD exactly what I needed to share next. I had planned on speaking about Sundays, but something just didn't seem quite right about it. And then this weekend happened, where I spent practically the entire weekend in front of a computer screen playing video games. And suddenly, and I hate to admit it, to my own concivtion, I had what I needed to share. (Btw, video games are addictive....even the cheap $10 ones with puzzles that shouldn't be so hard to solve but are.)

Have you ever noticed how all throughout life we trade one pursuit for the other? We spend most of our childhood struggling to get the grades we need to graduate high school. Then, much like the game of life, we either go straight into the workforce or go to college and then to the workforce, but ultimately its about finding a career that will support you. Then it becomes all about advancing in that career so that you can work less for more money. Then it becomes about having enough stuff to be comfortable enough because of all the money you're making. And then once you've finally achieved the ultimate comfort, and you have everything you ever wanted, you do one of two things. You either wait until you die, or you find something else you don't have that you want and chase it.

I don't know about you, but all that seems extremely depressing. I can either look forward to a life filled with endless pursuits that I'll never ultimately achieve, or I can look forward to sitting and waiting to die. This is where some people pipe in and say, "But its not the destination, its the journey." I say to that, BULL!! What point is there in pursuing something if you never get it? If I pursue my wife and never obtain her heart, then why bother pursuing at all? If I spend my life working to get to the top only to be disappointed when I get there, then why go to the top at all? If I buy all the possessions that I could ever want, and at the end of the day become bored with them and want more, then why bother getting the stuff to start with? Is there anything in life I can pursue that once I achieve it, I will be truly content and happy and not want anything beyond it?

Thankfully, yes. A very rich and wise man named Solomon, thousands of years ago, ran an experiment. He decided, since he was so rich, that he would deny himself nothing. He increased his wealth to unimaginable gain, he built building after building in his name so that he would be remembered, he married woman after woman and had even more concubines so that he was never bored with his sex life, and he even was a king, so he knew the joys of being at the top of the totem pole. And after all that, after living a life of luxury and indulgence, do you know what he said mattered the most? "Fear God and keep his commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). That's it. Of all that you can do with life, the only thing that will ever bring you joy and contentment that will not leave once you have achieved it is to fear God and keep his commandments.

So, when people talk about God being "the center of your life," and how you should "love nothing more than you love God, not even your family," and when asked why that answer is "because God is God and He said so," it goes deeper than that. God is not some needy co-dependent clingy person that constantly needs reassurance. And He is not a self-centered glory hog who wants to be the center of attention all the time. Remember, we're God's favorite creation, and ultimately He wants the best for us. And He knows that the only way we are ever going to have a happiness that lasts and does not pass with time is to be completely focused on Him. So when He says, "Focus on me. Do what I say. Love me and only me. Forsake everything else," He's saying that because He knows He is the only thing that can provide the contentment that you're seeking.

And btw, I find that when I love God more, its a cascade effect. The more I love God, the more His love fills me, so the more I love my wife and my family and my friends and my job and my life and even my dog Samson. So really, the best way to love anybody is to love God first, and then His love will overflow into the other areas of your life.

Feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm always here.

Keep Soaring,

B

PS: A special thanks to Bro. Clifton for your "Thoughts on blogging" post...I feel better about letting so much time slip between my posts. And a most sincere apology to my wife....video games are my Achilles heel.