You must give an account ...


Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. -Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 NLT

When folks get older they often, like Solomon does here, opine about how wonderful it was when they were young. It is as if they forget how hard those young years can be. I remember how my teen years were filled insecurity and fears. Along with the joys of first loves came the challenges of school and the reality of the Vietnam War. I think that we all wear rose colored glasses when we look back. Even so, I disagree with Solomon when he says it is meaningless.

In these verses Solomon speaks of giving "an account to God for everything you do". Sometimes people read a verse like this and get fearful of a future judgment day where a terrifying God will cause them to shake to their bones. I see this a bit differently. When I think of that day when my actions will be called into account I envision an encounter with my Heavenly Father. A time in which I am taught about the ways that I should have loved and did not.

Dear Lord help us to remember that, in all we do, we are accountable for the ways that we love.


4 comments:

  1. I truly hope the account with Father is like you envision. I would not want to go back and go through the teens and twenties again. I am grateful to have learned and hopefully will be wiser in the future.

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    1. Sometimes I wonder whether God is feared enough. The idea of coming into the physical presence of the one, true, almighty God is in fact terrifying, which makes that knowledge that I have nothing to fear that much more amazing.

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    2. So true Ed. Certainly needs to be a healthy balance concerning what it means to fear the Lord.

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