Endgame
By Laurel Head
What is my goal in life? Have you ever thought about what the purpose of life is? I know as I’ve gotten older and been exposed to many different things, I’ve sat and contemplated this and many other ideas a lot more. Let’s delve into Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and see what the wisest man on Earth had to say about it.
Starting at the first verse, “(1)Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (2)While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: (3)In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, (4)And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; (5)Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: (6)Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.” When we are young, we don’t have as many stressful things going on as we do when we are adults. God knows that; therefore he wants us to turn to him and obey him when we are young. If we obey God and put him first in our lives as children and teenagers, then when we become adults and start making our own decisions, God will be at the forefront of our minds.
Next, let’s look at verses seven and eight, “(7)Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (8)Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.” God created us and fashioned us in His likeness. Yet, we will all die and return to the ground. James 4:14 says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Our life is so small compared to the vastness of eternity. What do you want to use it for? Glorifying and obeying the one who gave you life, or constantly being in opposition to Him? Once you come to the realization that very few things in this life really matter, you start to figure out your priorities. God should be at the top of that list and He should be the thing that grounds and is the deciding factor for everything else that you do.
Verses nine through twelve are very important, “(9)And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. (10)The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. (11)The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. (12)And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Listening to advice and gaining second-hand knowledge about life lessons from older, wiser people is very important to developing your life. Older Christians are very important in the Church because they serve as mentors and advisors to the younger people. Verse twelve is a very interesting verse. It means that studying and reading books to gain knowledge isn’t the main way to get that information. Having your own experiences where you have to make your own decisions while being advised by older Christians is more beneficial than not learning from your mistakes. Also, you can learn from older Christians and how they put God first throughout their lives and how He is at the center of everything they do.
Lastly, let’s read verses 13 through 14, “(13)Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (14)For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Verse thirteen really hits the nail on the head by saying that the whole purpose of man is to fear God, and keep his commandments. The whole reason for our lives is to obey God and His Word because he will look at our lives and decide if what we did was wrong, and we will be punished; or what we did was right, and we will be rewarded.
In conclusion, our life is to be used to glorify and obey God. As the phrase goes, “What does it mean to be happy? Going to Heaven and taking many people with you.” Our main goal in life is to get ourselves to Heaven and our second goal is to teach others so that they can go to Heaven.