Invest in life...

"Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting."

Ecclesiastes 11:10

In keeping with my thoughts the past couple of days, I feel it necessary to share this wisdom with you from Solomon.  And while this text will not be included in the recently completed book about the fruit and armor, it does lend to certain portions of those studies.

The heart, covered by the breastplate of righteousness, should have no sorrow in it.  As Solomon wrote this, he spoke to people before Christ, and simply admonished them to remain happy and productive.  However, we who have Christ today have literally no reason to have sorrow burdening us.  And, more than that, to allow sorrow in, we would have to remove the breastplate and expose the heart... for righteousness does not know sorrow, but only knows JOY!  Righteousness and the saving grace that comes from knowing Christ as Lord should eliminate any glimmer of sorrow that could possibly be present.  For what do we have to sorrow over if we have Jesus?

And as for putting pain away, I know that this is not really possible.  However, if you were consumed with the fear that you MIGHT have pain, you would probably miss out on the greatest parts of the human existence.  You might miss the love of sports, or running, or biking, or hiking, or capming, or music, or any other such thing, and therefore slight the Lord, as you will not use the gifts He has blessed you with to honor Him.  However, it would be easier to just put on His armor, and then go on and do what it is you have in your heart to do which honors Him through the fullest and best use of the way He made you!  So think not on the potential pains and losses, but rather on the already present gain of Christ!  And move forward, honoring Him and His kingdom with the absolute very best of yourself, always! 

In the movie "Facing the Giants" a coach demonstrates this very, very well with a player who had to crawl blindfolded.  Amid pain and discomfort and added weight from another player on his back, the young man persevered as the coach reminded him through the entire excercise that he could not stop until he had given every last ounce, his very best, all of himself to the task at hand... and that young man crawled over 100 yards in a death crawl position with an additional 180 lbs on his back, because he was unable to look at anything outside and become discouraged, and he had constant reminding that he was not to stop!

And as for the prime of life being fleeting, given my "real" job in the world, I can tell you factually that there is nothing ever guaranteed.  Ever.  One moment is all we ever have, and in it, we should be always aimed at serving the Lord and His people with the very best of ourselves and what we have to offer.  Nothing should ever change that goal.

Take time today to examine what your offering is.  (My fellow musicians will love this next part...)  Are you offering God only your warm-up, bringing simple scales and patterns forward?  Are you offering Him your performance piece, well-rehearsed and flawless... and easily repeatable at any time?  Are you offering Him your encore, which, while exhasuted, may have missed notes... but it will be filled with emotion?  Or are you offering Him all that and more?  Do you do the things you must for Him AND go home, in private, and sing/play to the very best of your ability and the maximum of your limit when no one but God is there to hear you?  That is putting your best forward; to give Him all that you do and then some more, from the best parts of yourself.  I guarantee you, when you do this, you bring honor to the Lord!

God bless you all!!!