Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
LORD Jesus, we praise You for You have not only created us, but You are also the One who provides for us. Forgive us, O God we pray, whenever we are discontent and wish to have what others have. You give to each one of us according to our needs, and You alone know what is best for us. Remind us and don’t let us forget the greatest Gift that God has ever given to us! In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.
Do we take our faith seriously? All the time? What do we think of those parts of the Scripture that call us to be different, go the extra mile, put our trust in God rather than in man? Will we obey? Hm, do we have to?
Two things come to my mind right now: tithing and keeping the Sabbath. Talking with other Christians about tithing usually brings up the question: Do we really have to tithe? How much? And then the argument against the Sabbath—oh my—surely we are no longer under the Old Testament, are we?
The post about tithing will have to wait until Thursday, but I already wrote a couple of posts about the Sabbath. If you would like to read them, here are the links to the blog posts I wrote in 2020:
Sabbath Delight—Part 1
Sabbath Delight—Part 2
Sabbath Preparations—Part 1
Sabbath Preparations—Part 2
Sabbath Blessings
Back to today’s topic: serious godliness.
Matthew Henry comments on the last two verses of Ecclesiastes that the writer sets aside all matters of doubtful disputation and that to be religious is to fear God and keep his commandments. He goes on to say that,
The root of religion is fear of God reigning in the heart, and a reverence of his majesty, a deference to his authority, and a dread of his wrath. Fear God, that is, worship God, give him the honour due to his name, in all the instances of true devotion, inward and outward.
Fear God and keep His commandments today.
