This is my All

Some times, actually let me rephrase that, a lot of the time, life seems to be like the honey on your fingers after eating KFC's biscuits. Its sticky. Its messy. And its annoying if you don't have wet wipes to clean up the mess you've made.

In life, we often make these messes in the midst of trying to juggle life. We strive to reach all that we can in every aspect of our life; thinking that the perfection of each region will mean perfection in our happiness. 

We try and find that perfect balance to successfully squeeze everything in. 

Its exhausting, stressful, and in the end hopeless.  

Thankfully, these circumstances have already been tried and tested for us. God knows us all to well, and used Solomon, the wisest man there was as a demonstration in our pursuit of satisfaction. 

Now, for a little background, Solomon was the son of King David. He was the richest, well-known man in his time. He had lots of money, status, and women. In his writings, he expresses the dissatisfaction he faced within his life. 

"2 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” 3 After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

4 I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. 7 I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. 8 I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

9 So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. 11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere." (EC 2:1-11)

Reread that last sentence one more time. 

I never cease to be amazed of how timeless The Bible truly is; that humans, 2,000 years later are still facing the same struggles (talk about an awful learning curve).

No matter who you are or what you do, you will never find full satisfaction because the earthy things you are pursuing have no meaning. 

Satisfaction doesn't come from our belongings.

Satisfaction doesn't come from our status.

Satisfaction doesn't come from our wealth.

Satisfaction can not be found in anything that is on this Earth. You can gain it all, and you will still be feeling just as lost, empty and unsatisfied as you were prior. 

At the end of Ecclesiastes the author draws a beautiful verdict that can be summed up in the last verses "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; fear God and keep his commandments, for this is mans ALL"  (EC 12:13)

That is your all. 

Take note that the instruction to fear God comes before obeying his commandments.

But God doesn't want you to be scared or terrified of Him. To fear means to be in complete and total awe, to simply be in love with Jesus.  

There is a reason God wants us to fear him before we obsess over keeping His commandments.

He wants us to love him. He wants to have a relationship with us deeper than a daily check list of our actions. We are to be so in love with Jesus, that we then desire to be like Him. 

We often choose to ignore the first (and most important) part; loving Jesus, and instead we focus on our actions.

 So we convince ourselves that action is where we gain satisfaction. 

Our satisfaction is to be found in loving Jesus. This is our all. At the end of our life this is all we have. 

This is our hope. 

This is our joy. 

This is our purpose. 

This is our satisfaction.  

Celebrate that Jesus is our all!

He doesn't require hours of work with strict deadlines, a certain status or amount of money to get into the pearly gates. All he requires is that you love Him. 

The God who spoke everything into existence, whom sustains us and breathes life into us, only wants us to love Him.

I cant think of anything more amazing than that. 

I'm so thankful that's my all.