Ecclesiastes 4:16
THIS IS VANITY AND A CHASE AFTER THE WIND.
Ecclesiastes 4:16
When I was young I used to read this book and think the guy who wrote it was really depressed, and I even wondered why God would allow this book to be included in the Bible...when I was young, not too long ago.
It is funny but I read it an I fully understand what the guy has in mind. I myself have done my share of thougth. I have observed all sorts of activities all sorts of lifestyles and I just reach the same conclusion over and over again....vanity and a chase after the wind.
I see people who are money oriented, working so hard to gain a "better" life, longer and more comfortable...yet, they are so stressed out! So often they come to the point of confessing that they are empty...void...something is missing...something went wrong... despite the cars and trips...life is gone...a chase after the wind.
I see people who go into all sorts of studies, one masters degree after another, in all kinds of fields and with great opportunities being opened in each step...yet, they too reach the conclusion that something is gone...something has escaped their grasp...despite the diplomas...life is gone...a chase after the wind.
I see women trying to hold their families together. Doing the most incredible things in order to bring forth a "good" family. Happy and mature kids, well oriented kids...day in and day out they work inside and out the house and somehow in the midst of all the rush they forget to live life, to simply enjoy what they have...whatever it is...always pushing for more they miss out on all the fun....a chase after the wind.
I see people in ministry, one meeting after another, reaching out to save the world yet losing their own children, preaching about abundant life yet letting life escape thier own reach. No time to hold the new baby in the family, we must run to bring new babies into the kingdom of God...and the saddest part being that often times the people they reach out to turn into bitter enemies... a chase after the wind.
"Bea, are you deppressed?"
Nope. I am thinking.
I have lived 40 years. I have stopped 1 just to gain strenght and decide which way to go.
I am thinking now about what I want to do next, and HOW I want to do it.
I can chase the wind...but I want to live life
I like the taste of LIFE.
I have been pondering on this subject a lot...ministry....work...study...marriage...LIFE.
all of the previous are supposed to be part of life, but it seems to me we often do these and leave LIFE out. Clever little creatures human beings are...
As I have tried to reach a conclusion of what life really is...I go back to some specific times in my life...and I can point at them and say:THAT is life.
REading a bedtime story to my kids....with God sitting by our side, enjoying their smiles and even my own sillyness. THAT was LIFE.
Getting a telephone call, my dad is gone to heaven, won't see him here again...God holding me gently, and keeping my heart from breaking. THAT was LIFE.
Being at the airport, with a couple of close friends to hold us tight as me and my boys separated from eachother...and God arranging for a super special friend to have the same flight so I would not be all alone in my darkest night...and then showing great lightnings in the horizon...just to remind me that He was there by my side. THAT was LIFE.
Watching mom talking with a neighbor and friend yesterday, just watching mom as she talked and smiled, and I even saw her glancing at her friend with a "you are so sweet" kind of look...God winked at me, I winked back. THAT was LIFE.
So I meditate on all of these and I begin to clearly understand that it is not the activity in itself that will make a difference. I end up where I once began. LIFE IS ABOUT ME AND GOD WALKING TOGETHER IN A DEEP , CLOSE, RELATIONSHIP.
I am free to do anything...teach English or preach, but if I want LIFE, then I must care for my relationship with God. I must give HIM His time and space. Once He is part of my life, many things will change, places that I won't be able to go, priorities that must be discarted...etc etc...but there is still so much more to do...so much to see and learn...so much to read and teach...so much to give and receive and in the midst of it all God can bring forth LIFE.
mmmm....that is probably what Jesus had in mind when He said "I AM LIFE"
The most simple moments with Him are full of LIFE,
the greatest moments without Him are empty ...a chase after the wind.
and
Great moments with HIM result in an extraodinary LIFE.
Ecclesiastes 4:16
When I was young I used to read this book and think the guy who wrote it was really depressed, and I even wondered why God would allow this book to be included in the Bible...when I was young, not too long ago.
It is funny but I read it an I fully understand what the guy has in mind. I myself have done my share of thougth. I have observed all sorts of activities all sorts of lifestyles and I just reach the same conclusion over and over again....vanity and a chase after the wind.
I see people who are money oriented, working so hard to gain a "better" life, longer and more comfortable...yet, they are so stressed out! So often they come to the point of confessing that they are empty...void...something is missing...something went wrong... despite the cars and trips...life is gone...a chase after the wind.
I see people who go into all sorts of studies, one masters degree after another, in all kinds of fields and with great opportunities being opened in each step...yet, they too reach the conclusion that something is gone...something has escaped their grasp...despite the diplomas...life is gone...a chase after the wind.
I see women trying to hold their families together. Doing the most incredible things in order to bring forth a "good" family. Happy and mature kids, well oriented kids...day in and day out they work inside and out the house and somehow in the midst of all the rush they forget to live life, to simply enjoy what they have...whatever it is...always pushing for more they miss out on all the fun....a chase after the wind.
I see people in ministry, one meeting after another, reaching out to save the world yet losing their own children, preaching about abundant life yet letting life escape thier own reach. No time to hold the new baby in the family, we must run to bring new babies into the kingdom of God...and the saddest part being that often times the people they reach out to turn into bitter enemies... a chase after the wind.
"Bea, are you deppressed?"
Nope. I am thinking.
I have lived 40 years. I have stopped 1 just to gain strenght and decide which way to go.
I am thinking now about what I want to do next, and HOW I want to do it.
I can chase the wind...but I want to live life
I like the taste of LIFE.
I have been pondering on this subject a lot...ministry....work...study...marriage...LIFE.
all of the previous are supposed to be part of life, but it seems to me we often do these and leave LIFE out. Clever little creatures human beings are...
As I have tried to reach a conclusion of what life really is...I go back to some specific times in my life...and I can point at them and say:THAT is life.
REading a bedtime story to my kids....with God sitting by our side, enjoying their smiles and even my own sillyness. THAT was LIFE.
Getting a telephone call, my dad is gone to heaven, won't see him here again...God holding me gently, and keeping my heart from breaking. THAT was LIFE.
Being at the airport, with a couple of close friends to hold us tight as me and my boys separated from eachother...and God arranging for a super special friend to have the same flight so I would not be all alone in my darkest night...and then showing great lightnings in the horizon...just to remind me that He was there by my side. THAT was LIFE.
Watching mom talking with a neighbor and friend yesterday, just watching mom as she talked and smiled, and I even saw her glancing at her friend with a "you are so sweet" kind of look...God winked at me, I winked back. THAT was LIFE.
So I meditate on all of these and I begin to clearly understand that it is not the activity in itself that will make a difference. I end up where I once began. LIFE IS ABOUT ME AND GOD WALKING TOGETHER IN A DEEP , CLOSE, RELATIONSHIP.
I am free to do anything...teach English or preach, but if I want LIFE, then I must care for my relationship with God. I must give HIM His time and space. Once He is part of my life, many things will change, places that I won't be able to go, priorities that must be discarted...etc etc...but there is still so much more to do...so much to see and learn...so much to read and teach...so much to give and receive and in the midst of it all God can bring forth LIFE.
mmmm....that is probably what Jesus had in mind when He said "I AM LIFE"
The most simple moments with Him are full of LIFE,
the greatest moments without Him are empty ...a chase after the wind.
and
Great moments with HIM result in an extraodinary LIFE.
posted by thisfool @ 8:35 AM
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