Today's Bible Reading: ECCLESIASTES 11:7-12:14; 1 KINGS 12:1-33; 2 CHRONICLES 10:1-11:17
Ecclesiastes 12:13
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Have you every wished that someone would condense your responsibility or your duty, into one precise statement? Just tell us what to do and we will do it. Well, Solomon, after twelve chapters of considering the components and complexities of life, did just that. He came to the “end of the matter”. His conclusion was to do two things, “fear God and keep His commandments”.
Solomon determined that this is why we exist. He discerned that this is why we were created. He concluded that these two things sum up the “whole duty of man”. This he decided is the center from which every other attitude and activity should arise. Our life’s pursuit is to revere God and rightly follow Him. It is to delight in Him and do what He says. It is to worship Him and walk in His ways. This then for Solomon is the purpose of our existence and the “end of the matter”.
Consider first the phrase “fear God”. As we have discussed in previous devotionals, this kind of fear doesn’t make us afraid of God, but leads us to be awestruck by Him. It is to honor and revere Him above all else. It is to hold Him in high esteem and to exalt Him above everything else. This is the catalyst that leads one to “keep his commandments”. When we put God in the right position, we follow the right path. Our worship of Him leads us to walk in His ways.
Reflect on the second phrase “keep his commandments”. To keep them implies knowing them. It is upon us to linger daily in His word and determine His various precepts and principles. It behooves us to study His word, to memorize it, to meditate upon it and. to direct our life by it. It is of utmost important to dwell on and delight in doing His commands.
So, the principle that Solomon sets forth is fear first, then follow. Where there is no fear of God there will be no following God. We fail in “the whole duty of man” if we dethrone the Lord and disobey His commands. Our lifelong quest should be that we fear God and follow Him.
Today, examine your response to the Lord and His commands. Ask Him to help you keep Him high and lifted up in your life. Ask him to help you study His word and stay the course by doing His word. Ask Him to help you fear Him and follow Him.
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