Day 1: The Conclusion

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13

Fear means to believe that something or someone is dangerous. The term for fear here is meant in this direction, but in a holier aspect. When we fear God, we don't fear Him as a means of strict dictatorship, we fear Him in a means of worship. We don't want to cause conflict between our Creator and ourselves. We fear Him because He is all powerful, and we fear Him out of love, not out of being scared. Matthew 10:28 puts it this way, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell".

I find it ironic and interesting that we start with this verse. I love this verse because it demonstrates some really powerful points in only 23 short words. Because this verse is short, it makes it easy to put to memory, and it's one any Christian should have memorized (or at least the basis of it). This book of the Bible was written during a time of awakening in Solomon's life. He had experienced everything this life had to offer. He saw it all and he had it all, but he still was not satisfied.

See, the things that satisfy us right now are only temporary satisfactions. They start to grow weary and they start to dissipate. They start to feel mundane. For instance, I've prayed 100's of times in my life. In fact, when I was older I was learning to pray before meals, but after days of doing so, it started to feel useless, even pointless, because by the time I was done praying my food would get cold, I never knew what to pray about, and I always felt awkward when I prayed in front of people. But when I became saved, oh prayer was so much sweeter. All I can do is pray now. In fact, the least we can do is pray, and the most we can do is pray. So all in all, prayer is the only thing we must do! 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

This is equal to anything in life. The pleasures you think are satisfying now, try the pleasures of God instead, they are ecstatic. Reading your Bible becomes amazing, praying for hours makes you feel accomplished, going to Disneyland (even if you had been there 1,000 times growing up) suddenly becomes a new experience. Food is new, music is new, even waking up in the morning is new. "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Revelations 21:5 Even the most ordinary things and things we feel are maybe not as satisfying are suddenly repurposed and extraordinary. Why is the conclusion of man to fear God and keep His commandments? Because it allows us to see all things as new.