Without God - Part 11: The Forgotten God

 

I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:17

I’ve mentioned recently in a post on this blog that I have a number of dearly loved Christian friends across a fairly wide spectrum of the Christian church—from Fundamentalism, to Evangelicalism, to Liberal Mainline-ism, to Roman Catholic, to Eastern Orthodox, to those who have had a more traditional faith from their childhood, but who no longer attend church services regularly. In an increasingly growing number of these dear ones, they have begun to strongly emphasize a different interpretation of Scripture than the one that I believe is absolutely foundational to holding to solid Christian orthodoxy.

That last statement in itself would cause these dear ones to rise up with shouts that I am a prisoner of my own presuppositions. If that is the case, then I gladly and wholeheartedly embrace those presuppositions. These dear ones might also accuse me of clinging to outdated and obtuse positions regarding a whole host of theological “absolutes” because I am afraid of losing either my employment or my hard-fought position within my particular circle of Christian associates.

I confess that such charges make me smile. After all, my livelihood has not now, nor never has, depended on my theological beliefs. Furthermore, in my old age I am so isolated from anything resembling a “circle of Christian associates” that I am hardly afraid of losing something that I do not now have, nor ever have had.

Instead, I am saddened that what I observe in my dear friends is a seeking after a new god who is profoundly different from the God that I see throughout the totality of Scripture. Of course, I believe that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us—in the words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 13:12—as through a darkened mirror. God allows us to see Him in as much detail as He feels we can handle. But, as finite, sinful humans, we simply do not have the capacity to see the fullness of God and never will be able to do so until we see Him in heaven. There, we will see Him in all His glory and we will all do the only thing we can do when we stand in His Presence: we will fall to our knees before Him and worship Him.

This new god that my dear friends have posited has arisen from very disappointing experiences in their lives, when God, as they had previously imagined Him, did not respond as they felt He should. Some tragedy has befallen them. They expected God to act in a certain way, and He failed to follow their expectations.

Now, I know that it is easy to sit on the sidelines of other people’s lives and “tsk-tsk” their failure to understand that no one can put God in a box. But, again, Scripture makes it plain that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Why in the world would we ever think that we could predict how God might act in any situation?

And, lest these dear ones accuse me of not being able to understand what they’ve been through, I am quick to acknowledge that this is so. I have not walked in their shoes. I have not had the same kind of trials that they have experienced. But, I have had my own trials and tribulations in life, and those trials have been enormously painful for me! Please let me explain:

When I first experienced a diabetic foot infection that became systemic and eventually caused me to have a partial amputation of my right foot in 1998, the spiritual leaders of my church prayed over me, anointed me with oil, and fervently asked God to totally heal me. But, He did not heal me and never has—at least not in the way that I imagined. I continued to suffer from a chronic osteomyelitis of the right foot. That chronic infection flared up from time to time, as it did in November of 2016. I began yet another regimen of powerful antibiotics. Month after month the infection continued to rage. I could no longer drive. I had to walk with a surgical boot. Would this torture never end?

In fact, I had a continual series of issues with my right foot that plagued me for 19 years until, in November of 2017, I had my right leg amputated below the knee. Am I angry with God that He did not completely heal me and did not allow me to keep my right leg? No, I am not. Am I disappointed that He did not act in the way that I might have hoped that He would act? No, I am not. While I am disappointed that I did not receive healing in exactly the way I hoped or prayed, I am not disappointed in God. Who am I to question Him? Who am I to dispute the plan that He has made for me. Why would I, when He does not meet my imagined expectations, discard my view of Him and seek some other god that would fit my preconceived notion of who God should be and how God should act?

The simple truth is that God did, indeed, heal me. After all other medical interventions failed—and I had some of the best doctors, nurses, and technicians working in my behalf for all of those 19 years—God healed me from the chronic infection of my right foot by having an amazingly skillful surgeon amputate my right leg, just in the nick of time. You see, gangrene had begun to form and spread upward from my foot, into my ankle, and without the amputation, the gangrene likely would have taken my life.

So, when my dear friends now speak of a god who is not one of judgment, but only one of love—a god for whom the gift of mercy and grace toward those he has created is no longer necessary—I say to them:

“Dear friends, you are setting aside the whole counsel of God. The Bible clearly teaches that first and foremost God is a Holy God. Because He is a Holy God, He is a God of Judgment. He cannot tolerate sin. That’s why He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die in our place. His anger had to be propitiated. His judgment satisfied. Our redemption was obtained by the only possible suitable sacrifice.

Teaching that God is One who only loves and accepts everyone is a distortion of the truth clearly shown in God’s written Word. Yes, God is absolutely a God of Love. In fact, without God real love cannot and does not exist. He alone is Love. His very provision of a means to satisfy His own judgment is, in itself, an act of supreme love.

But, God also is Holy. He wants those He loves to worship Him alone, to love Him back, to obediently follow His precepts. He wants those who love Him to embrace holiness, through the enabling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:1-2, and 1 Peter 1:14-16).

I understand that it is difficult to hold these two great truths in tension. To say that God is Holy and will judge sinners, while at the very same time declaring that God is Love, seems so very difficult. But, I submit to you that a real part of the absolute glory of the Christian faith is that these two truths about God must co-exist in the very tension that makes faith both necessary and possible.

To abandon the God of Judgment, and only embrace the God of Love, leaves us with a lopsided religion. It is every bit as much in error as my dear Fundamentalist friends who place a strong emphasis on outward behaviors, instead of focusing principally on an inward life-change. I also submit that only through surrender to the Holy Spirit’s patient guidance can we ever even hope to begin to experience wholeness in our lives—wholeness spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically.

And this brings me to today’s passage from the pen of King Solomon. Please notice what he writes in Ecclesiastes 3:17:

I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

If you have stayed with me so far in this rather lengthy blog post, let me ask a favor of you. Will you please pray with me for all those who once knew what I have described above as truth, but have now abandoned this sure foundation to run after another god? Pray that God will open their eyes to the error that has crept into their minds and hearts. Pray that they will accept the truth of God’s actions in their behalf.

My heart is broken that these dear ones have left the faith they once knew. While they believe they have seen a new and brighter light, I fear that what they see is a distortion created by the enemy, Satan, to bring about their own downfall, insofar as having a positive influence for the sake of the Kingdom of God here on earth. I thank you for considering my request.

And, let’s pray for each other, too. We need help in holding the truth of who God is in proper tension. We need help in recognizing He is both a God of Judgment and a God of Love.

And, of course, we must fully recognize that we dare not become agents of judgment ourselves, whenever we recognize that God is a God of Judgment. For judgment only belongs to Him. He has not given us a mandate of judgment. Rather, He has given us a mandate of love.

So, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to use us as instruments of God’s mercy, grace, and love. And, lest we become tempted to judge others, let’s remember that we too will one day stand before God, as Solomon has said. Yes, for those of us who follow Christ, our judgment will be one of an evaluation of how obedient we were to His perfect will, and to both His Living Word and to His written Word. And, that’s quite enough judgment for which any of us should be concerned.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 10: Time to Pay the Piper

 

“Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:15

In every situation of life, there comes a time when we must give an account of what we’ve done. We may do something over and over for a long time. But, eventually, if that “something” has caused harm to someone or is constituted of an action that is morally or spiritually wrong, then the price of doing that “something” will sooner or later come due. Please permit me to illustrate my point:

You no doubt know the story of the Pied Piper. The city was overwhelmed by rats. The leaders were beside themselves. No matter what they did, they couldn’t get rid of the rats. A piper came along who offered to rid the city of the rats for a specific price. The leaders readily agreed to pay that price. The piper proceeded to pipe his magical and enticing tune. And, sure enough, the rats gathered behind him. He marched them to the water’s edge, where they entered the water and promptly drowned.

Now, if the story ended there it would be a wonderful tale of triumph over evil. But, the leaders refused to pay the piper. And so, the piper began to pipe an even more magical melody.

Soon, all the children of the city gathered behind the piper. He led them to the water’s edge where they, too, entered the water and promptly drowned.

“How horrible!” you may say. “How awful! What a despicable man that piper was!” But, you have misplaced your disgust. You should direct your horror at the leaders of the city who failed to pay the piper after agreeing to his price.

Life’s like that parable. Sin has a price attached to it. We may enjoy the pleasure of that sin for a season. But, eventually, we will have to pay the price for such a sin.

In this life on earth, we often have to pay the temporal price for sin. In other words, the harm that sin causes others and ourselves extracts a price in the here and now. Fortunately, the ultimate eternal price for our sins has already been paid by Jesus’ life on earth, by His suffering and death on the cross, by His resurrection from the grave, and by His ascension to heaven.

We sometimes think that, no matter what we have done, we have gotten away with it. But, sin always extracts a price. We should bow to the ground in thankfulness that the only price we have to pay is the temporal one. Because of Jesus, the eternal price for our sin has been paid. King Solomon wrote of this reality, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:15:

Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

One of the reasons that the Holy Spirit leads those of us who believe toward holiness is so that, by becoming what God wants us to be, we will avoid sinning as much as possible. Yes, we most certainly do remain stained by the sin curse of Adam until we pass from this life to the next. So, we will always have the pull of sin on our lives. But, the more we yield our lives to God, the less we will desire to sin. It’s a long process, what the late author Eugene H. Peterson has called “a long obedience in the same direction.” ¹ But, it is a road worth traveling.

As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is our guide and our companion. He will help us learn about how to move toward holiness. And that, dear ones, is what the walk of sanctification is all about.

 

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1 Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Madison, WI: InterVarsity Press, 2024. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 9: Enduring Forever

 

“I know that everything God does will endure forever…”

—Ecclesiastes 3:14a

When you buy an ice cream cone, do you ever wish that it would last longer than it does? What if that ice cream cone would last forever? It would never get warm and melt. The same amount of ice cream would be waiting for you whenever you decided to lick the cone. Even if you took a spoon and scooped out a significant quantity of ice cream, you would find that the amount of ice cream in the cone would not diminish. For one thing, you would want to choose your flavor carefully because, after all, it’s going to last forever. You would want to choose the type of cone carefully, too—waffle cone or sugar cone—because no matter how many bites you take, the cone never disappears.

As silly as this analogy may seem, everything that God does is like this imaginary, never-diminishing ice cream cone. That is to say, everything God does lasts forever. King Solomon wrote about this attribute of God’s mercy, grace, and love, when he penned these words found in Ecclesiastes 3:12-14:

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

This quality of God that endures forever, Solomon states, is so that people will fear Him—or, as we may be more comfortable saying: revere, or honor, or obey Him. God is who He is. While we puny humans can only partially comprehend the fullness of who God is, in His written Word—the Bible—He has revealed enough of Himself for our finite minds to apprehend this quality of His: forever endurance.

The stability that we have in our lives, as followers of Christ, comes from the fact that God’s nature and activity endures forever. James 1:17 states these familiar words:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

God’s forever endurance is the “un-shifting shadow”—or as the Authorized King James Version states: “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God has ultimate stability. And, because He is who He is, we can build the entirety of our lives on that ultimate stability.

As we begin a new day, let’s thank God for the fact that everything He does endures forever. He always was, He is, and He always will be. His mercy, grace, and love will never fail because everything God does endures forever. His power to redeem us from the penalty of our sins will never fail to preserve us for eternity because everything God does endures forever. His ability to set us on a pathway toward holiness will never turn in an unchartered direction because everything God does endures forever.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 8: The Burden on the Human Race

 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

—Ecclesiastes 3:11

Did you ever think of yourself as laboring under a burden? For the last few days, I’ve shared with you some thoughts of King Solomon’s that he wrote at the end of his life. Some of these thoughts seem to drip with the early spring sap of helplessness—helplessness because there is more winter to come and the next freeze will actually hinder the flow of sap.

But, when we read Solomon’s words, we have to focus on a phrase that he uses many times throughout this Book of Ecclesiastes. They are the words: “under the sun” or “under heaven.” It is as if Solomon is drawing a line between the earth and heaven, and purposely excluding any influence that God might have on the spiritual well-being of His people here on the earth.

The late Bible Scholar/Teacher, Ravi Zacharias, suggests that we might paraphrase these modifiers in yet another phrase: “without God.” In other words, the helplessness and futility of which Solomon writes must be perceived as if the world was without God’s intervention, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

This, of course, is not the world in which we live. We, who follow Christ, have the power of the Holy Spirit within us. He literally dwells inside our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit truly permeates our four human modalities: emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical—or heart, soul, mind, and strength. As such, the Holy Spirit amplifies the Presence of God and His divine influence on our daily lives. So, as we read what Solomon has written, we must take each statement of helplessness as if the world around us was one in which the redemptive power of God, and His loving efforts to help us, were absent.

Imagine, if you can, a world in which you did not know God personally through His Son, Jesus, and one in which you did not experience the Presence of God in your life through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. It’s pretty frightening, isn’t it? And, it would definitely be a world where meaningless futility was at the end of every transaction.

In today’s reading, found in Ecclesiastes 3:9-11, please notice what Solomon states:

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

In these few words, Solomon begins to take a momentary turn in his methodical declaration that all is meaningless. Instead, he holds out a ray of hope. To answer his question regarding the reward for hard work, Solomon suggests that God has burdened the human race with the glories of a beautiful creation. More so, God has placed a longing for eternity in the depths of the human heart. How can this longing for eternity be a burden? C. S. Lewis provides an answer in his book, The Weight of Glory, where he writes: ¹

Now, if we are made for heaven, the desire for our proper place will be already in us, but not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object … If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our real destiny, then any other good on which our desire fixes must be in some degree fallacious, must bear at best only a symbolical relation to what will truly satisfy.

The fact that God has placed within every single human heart the desire for eternity means that, when humans seek to satisfy that longing apart from God, they will find that nothing, absolutely nothing, truly satisfies. The hole in each of our hearts that God intends eternity to fill will remain vacant until He fills it with His glory.

Show me people running here and there trying to satisfy a longing that nothing can fill, and I will show you people who are truly living meaningless lives. No matter what they may accomplish, no matter what they may experience in the moment, no matter what they may say, they will always fall short and remain dissatisfied apart from becoming filled with the glory of God. Thus, Solomon has accurately predicted their state. They will, indeed, live lives that are truly meaningless.

The only way this burden on the human race can be lifted is through a personal relationship with God, through His precious Son, Jesus. Yes, salvation is all about the forgiveness of our sins, the satisfaction of God’s wrath toward us—because in His holiness, He cannot tolerate the presence of sin—the atoning sacrifice, the substitutionary death of Jesus in our place. But, salvation is also about filling that hole in each of our hearts where the longing for eternity resides. For, without salvation, we cannot experience eternity with God. Unless our sins are covered by Christ’s blood, we cannot enter into eternal life with God—our uncovered sins would be an abomination to our Holy God.

As we begin a new day, let’s think about the great joy that we experience because God has placed eternity in our hearts. Let’s be glad that this longing is not a burden to us because God’s Presence has given our lives genuine meaning, true value, and inestimable worth. We were made for eternity. We have heaven in view. And, our purpose here on earth is to share the vision we can see through our spiritually healed eyes, so that God might draw those whom He has chosen to Himself.

An anonymous gospel songwriter captured a bit of this in a song ² that most of us have heard at one time or another. It may seem simplistic and quaint, but it smacks of great truth.

This world is not my home. I’m just a-passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door.
And, I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Oh Lord, You know, I have no friend like You.
If heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door.
And, I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

 

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1 Lewis, C. S. The Weight of Glory. New York: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2001. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2 Anonymous. “I Can’t Feel At Home Any More.” Publlic Domain. This Hymn is included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 7: What Time Is This In Your Life?

 

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens …”

—Ecclesiastes 3:1

Have you ever stopped to consider what time is this in your life? What do I mean? I’m asserting that in our lives we have specific times or seasons through which we pass, as we move from one time in our lives to another. If my assertion rings true for you, then I ask again: “Have you ever stopped to consider what time is this in your life?” And, do you even care? At the end of his life, King Solomon cared. In fact, he cared enough that he penned these words found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

No matter how we may choose to answer the question—“What time is this in our lives?”—we can move forward into this new day knowing that God has charted a pathway for us. His pathway includes every possible joy, and maybe a few periods of testing, even sorrow. Each of these seasons in our lives will ultimately secure for us the best possible existence that He has to offer us. As the Potter, He will shape us as His clay into the best form, in order to serve His purposes and share His mercy, grace, and love with those around us.

I’ve quoted Adelaide Addison Pollard’s hymn several times over the years I’ve written posts on this blog. It speaks to our response to the seasons of our lives: ¹

Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way;
Search me and try me, Master, today.
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way;
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray.
Power, all power, surely is Thine,
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way;
Hold o’er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me

May we pray the words of this hymn as our prayer today. Amen.

 

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1 Pollard, Adelide A. “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Publlic Domain. This Hymn is included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the Hymnal. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 6: For Without Him ...

 

“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”

—Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

Sometimes I wonder if we really understand what the Apostle James was writing about when he penned these words found in James 1:17:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

This verse of Scripture means exactly what it says. Everything in our lives that is truly good and truly perfect has come to us as a gift from God. He is the Giver. We are the recipients. He gives and we receive.

Nothing we have is as a result of our ability to earn it. We do not deserve anything good in our lives. We are wretched, terrible, awful sinners. It is only through God’s mercy, grace, and love that we have been redeemed from our sin by the precious blood of Jesus.

We reach an important step in our Christian spiritual formation when we recognize, accept, and celebrate this reality: all that we are and all that we have has come to us as a precious gift from God. If we look at our lives and declare that we have good people and good things in our lives, then they have come to us as a gift from God. If we see that we have talents and abilities to do things in a better, more effective, way than others can, then that has come to us as a gift from God. Everything that is good or positive in our lives has come to us as a precious gift from God.

King Solomon knew this fact, as well. Here he was, the son of one of the greatest men in all of Scripture, King David. God had given Solomon great wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. There was no problem that Solomon could not solve, no challenge that he could not meet, no obstacle that he could not overcome. Not only was Solomon brilliant, he was handsome. He experienced excellent health. He accumulated great wealth, great power, and great stature in his world. But, Solomon also knew that all that he was and all that he had acquired had come to him as a precious gift from God. Please notice what he writes at the end of his life, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 2:24-26:

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

A key phrase from this discourse is “… for without him …” Indeed! Without God, without a vibrant, personal relationship with Him, nothing matters. Without God, the world around us is bleak and cold. Without God, the relationships we have with others will lack the depth and warmth we desire. Without God, we cannot possibly meet the trials and difficulties of life head on. Without God, we cannot fully enjoy the many wonderful gifts that come to us from His loving hand.

As a new day opens up before us, let us recognize, with the totality of our beings, that without God our lives would stink with the rot of eternal death. But with God, our lives have the sweet perfume of God’s mercy, grace, and abiding love. The aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ will have infused every pore of our beings. And, that scent of victory over sin, death, and Satan gives off an aroma that God uses to draw men, women, boys, and girls to Himself.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 5: The Reward for Labor

 

“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?”

—Ecclesiastes 2:22

Have you ever worked very hard and, at the end of the workday, felt that you accomplished nothing? Please let me share an illustration.

When I was a student at Houghton College (now Houghton University) in western New York state, some friends asked me to drive them to a little town about twenty miles south of the College. They had agreed to unload some railroad cars.

Upon our arrival, the four of them went to work unloading 75-pound bags of cement. The boxcar probably held several hundred bags. I was not invited to help. In fact, because they didn’t want to share their wages with me, I was forbidden to help.

Quarter-hour after quarter-hour, they unloaded the boxcar. It was a very warm spring day. They soon soaked their tee shirts with sweat. Bag after bag, they kept unloading. After about seventy-five minutes, they still had a quarter of the boxcar to unload. They were tired and had begun to think better of this task.

Just as they finished unloading the boxcar, a truck drove up. In it was the man who had hired them. “I see you’ve got one car unloaded,” he said. “You realize there are three more cars, right?”

Sure enough, the car they had unloaded was flanked by two cars on the left and one car on the right. Each car was full to the top with bags of cement. I think my friends nearly fainted when they realized the task was only one-quarter completed.

As they started on the second car, I told them I would be back in a few hours. I drove back to the College, worked for about three-and-a-half hours, and drove back to the job site. It was now about seven o’clock in the evening. Fortunately, Daylight Savings Time was in effect.

When I arrived, they still had about one-third of the final car to go. To say that they were dragging would be an understatement. They were thoroughly tired and very discouraged. In a little less than an hour later, with a great deal of struggle, they finished unloading the final boxcar. They wearily got into my car and we headed back to the College.

The next morning, all four of them were so sore and so tired that they vehemently stated they would never undertake such a task again. Never, ever, under any circumstances would they work so hard for so little wages. When they finally totaled up their “take” for the day, they found that each of them had earned about a dollar and twenty-five cents an hour. Now, this was way back in 1967. But, even so, that was far too little money for such an investment of time and energy.

King Solomon understood their plight. In the Scripture passage for today, he continues the questioning at the end of his life, as we have been sharing with you over the past few days. Notice what he wrote, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 2:17-23:

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

Sometimes we invest a great deal of time and effort into a task only to have the next person who takes up that task squander all our hard work:

I once had a friend, now deceased, who managed a cemetery. When he took over, the recordkeeping was horrible. He spent months and months straightening out a mess that had accumulated over thirty years. In the last twenty-five years that he managed the cemetery, he created systems and procedures to keep the records up to date and the management of the facility moving along like a well-oiled machine.

But, not long before he died, he realized that once he was gone, it would be likely that no one would devote the time and energy to the recordkeeping into which he invested so much of his time and effort. He imagined that soon after he would die, the records will again be in serious disarray.

That’s how Solomon felt. And yet, in considering the work of our hands—work that God has given us to do, as a part of His great plan for our lives—we must accept the reality that we are only responsible for our part. We cannot take responsibility for what has gone on before us and for what will come after us.

It’s good for us to recognize, as we begin another new day, that the measure of the value and success of our labor comes from God. Our role is to faithfully serve Him in whatever way He opens up before us. We are judged by our faithfulness. And, our labor for Him is never, ever, in vain.

 

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