The Ways of Your Heart

Ecclesiastes 11:5 ESV

“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

Our inability to fully grasp everything about God is compared here to our inability to fully understand the forming of a baby in the womb of a mother and how God puts the breath of life into that baby, and how he gives that baby a soul.

We, as human beings, with finite minds, cannot possibly fully comprehend the vastness of Almighty God and all that he is doing, and all that he is working, and all that he is yet going to do in the future. For, we don’t know all that he has planned for our future and the many ways he plans to accomplish his purposes in our lives through those plans.

Right now, in the world, we all seem to be in a very precarious situation which is out of our control, for the most part. None of us knows what is going to happen when, or how long our present situation is going to last, or where ultimately this is going to take us in the days and years to come.

We do have some understanding of this, if we are students of the Scriptures, and if we understand the prophecies of Scripture regarding these last days. So, we shouldn’t be completely ignorant. We should be able to see the times we are living in by the signs all around us. But we don’t know what exactly God is going to do when, or how. But we should be prepared for anything.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 ESV

“In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.”

God put us all here on this earth for a purpose. For us who are believers in Jesus Christ, our purpose is to glorify God with our lives. So, the seed that we are to sow, which is our deeds, and which is the gospel of our salvation, should be good seed, which is obedient to Christ, pleasing to Him.

The seed, too, is loving others with the love of God, and it is ministering to their needs, and it is sharing with them from what God has given us to help meet those needs. So, it is being unselfish, and it is being generous, too.

Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 ESV

“Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. “So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.”

Life is a gift from God. And, we should take that gift seriously, and not for granted. And, we should use that gift for the honor and glory of God and not for selfish gain.

We should take full advantage of the time we have been given on this earth to follow our Lord in obedience, and to do his will, and to make a difference in this world of ours in the lives of others in ways that matter for eternity, and not just for the pleasures of this temporary world.

We are to enjoy life, but again, not for fleshly pleasures, but for the pleasure of knowing God and doing his will and serving his purposes for our lives on this earth during the time we have been given. For all else is vanity. All else is passing away and will rot and decay.

So, we should be living our lives for the pleasure of God, doing what will have eternal rewards in people’s lives. And, we should not take lightly that not everyone will spend eternity with God, for those who walk (in practice) according to their flesh will die in their sins without God (Rom. 8:1-17).

Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 ESV

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. “Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.”

This is not just for men, and it isn’t just for young men, but this applies to all people, young or old, male or female. If we live our lives for self-pleasure, in self-indulgence for self-gratification, we are going to reap what we sow. For, too many people who call themselves Christians have this mistaken idea that they can do whatever they want, be lazy, forget their responsibilities, and live for the lusts of their flesh, and that God will not judge them.

And, in today’s modern church, they have everything backwards. For, where righteousness is supposed to rule the lives of followers of Jesus, the sinful passions of the flesh are ruling them, instead. The cheap grace gospel, which is being promoted in most of these congregations, gives full reign for the sensual pleasures of the flesh to continue to rule in the lives of “believers.”

Thus, much of what is called church, and many of whom call themselves Christians, are living no different from those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, for they are living like those without Christ who have never been delivered from their slavery to sin but who are still in bondage to it.

And, even though God is using some of his servants to call his people to repentance and to obedience to Christ, many are not listening to those messages, which are messages from God and from his word. They are not heeding his warnings. They are not taking his Word to heart. But they are still making excuses for why they are continuing to yield to the lusts of their flesh, and for why they have not yet surrendered their lives to Christ.

They are continuing to live outside of God’s moral boundary lines which he set down for us for our good. And, I was one of those at one time, and then the Lord rescued me, and I turned, and now he has me calling his wayward ones back to him. And, all those who make a profession of faith in Jesus, and yet are still living in self-indulgence and self-gratification, he is calling to repentance. But many are not listening, and they are saying “No” to God.

And, so they are destroyed by their refusal to listen to God and to heed his warnings, to forsake their idols, and to submit to the Lord in obedience to his commands. And, so God is going to bring them into judgment.

Wrapping it Up

For, what do the Scriptures teach us? They teach us that Jesus Christ died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we might now become slaves of righteousness. And, they teach us that the way we learn Christ is that we are to forsake our lives of sin, and we are to put on our new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).

And, they warn us, too, that we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8; Gal. 5:16-21; Rom. 8:1-17; Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 2:6-8).

So, going back to the fact that we don’t know what God is going to do today or tomorrow, you may not live another day. So, please take this to heart, for God will judge those who are living in sin and who refuse to obey him.

So, stop making excuses for why you continue giving in to the lusts of your flesh, and for why you can’t walk in obedience to the Lord in holiness. Your excuses do not hold water, and they will end you up in hell if you continue living for self-pleasure and if you continue holding up your hand to God, telling him “No” when he speaks to you and he tells you to leave your sins and to come to him and to follow him in his ways.

So, repent of your sins, and turn your heart to the Lord, and walk in obedience to his commands for whatever time you have left on this earth, which may not be much. For not one of us is guaranteed today or tomorrow.

The Joy of the Lord

Twila Paris

The joy of the Lord will be my strength

I will not falter, I will not faint

He is my Shepherd, I am not afraid

The joy of the Lord is my strength

The joy of the Lord

The joy of the Lord

The joy of the Lord is my strength

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