Ecclesiastes 12:13–14, “13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will
bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good
or evil.”
Have we forgotten God? A life lived, no matter how long, comes to an end.
Ask Methuselah, who lived 969 years how quickly life came to a conclusion.
We may hide our ways of life from people, maybe even ourselves. We cannot
hide our ways from God.
A life lived outside of God is an empty life. This is the point of Ecclesiastes.
Nothing matters in the end if God is not a part of life. We focus on the things
under the sun and forget what is on the other side. Have we forgotten God?
Do we even consider God? As G. Campbell Morgan writes, “The writer of
Ecclesiastes had been living and experiencing life under the sun with no
concern with anything above the sun.” Then there comes a point we realize
there is something on the other side of the sun.
“Fear God and keep His commandments.” As much as we want to believe life
is all about us, the conclusion of life shouts out that our purpose in life is to
live out God’s commandments. Life is all about God! What truly matters in
this life is God! He is our Creator, our purpose for living. God is our source of
satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment in this life. Life outside of God has no
meaning.
We should fear God and keep His commandments because God’s judgment is
coming. The last words of the writer are God’s judgment. God judges the
good and the bad. There is no hiding. This applies to each person.
(Christians keep God’s commands because God’s love lives in them.)
Psalm 90:8–12, “8 You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in
the light of Your countenance. 9 For all our days have passed away in Your
wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. 10 The days of our lives are seventy
years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is
only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knows
the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 12 So
teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”