When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is:  fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity.  For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.   Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 HCSB

My earthly father was good to me and he rarely became angry with me.  I can count on one hand the times that I got into serious trouble with him.  I can recall three whippings that I had really worked hard to get. But there was one time that he was so angry that he sent me to my room for fear that he would seriously hurt me.  I had an 11:30 curfew and violated it by 5 hours.  I remember it was mid November and cold out, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace.  I got home at 4:30 a.m.  He had been out looking for me and got home a few minutes later.  He threw my driver’s license in the fireplace.  I had never seen my dad so angry, but so relieved all at once.  He told me that he didn’t know if he should hug me or beat me, but that he feared that if he touched me he would kill me because he was so angry.  He told me to go to my room, I gladly complied.  It was at that moment that I realized just how much my disobedience had hurt him.  Over a long talk the next morning, he tried to convey the torment he had experienced while out searching for me.  He had feared the worst.  I never violated my curfew again. I did as my dad asked and always let him know where I would be.  He agreed that I could stay out a little later for special occasions as long as he knew when to expect me to be home.   I learned then that he would honor my obedience.

If you have ever read the book of Ecclesiastes, then you know that it has a rather dreary tone.  It speaks of the futility of life without God.  Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes.  You may recall that when Solomon was appointed king, God told him that he would grant him whatever he asked.  Solomon asked for wisdom.  This pleased God so much that God told him that he would not only give him great wisdom but wealth and glory and long life as long as Solomon obeyed him (1 Kings 3:14).  God honors our obedience.

We recently did a study in Ecclesiastes.  You see Solomon had great power and great wealth but it brought him no joy without God. In 2 Chronicles 1 we are told that under Solomon’s reign,silver and gold was as common as stones. But even though he could buy whatever he wanted or order anyone to do whatever he wanted them to do, it was all useless without God.  Last night our pastor did a sermon on wisdom from Proverbs 4, but he used today’s scripture passage to emphasize our need for obedience. Solomon wrote the entire book of Ecclesiastes and summed it up in our scripture passage today which is the last two verses of that book.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has good plans for us.  In order for us to see these good plans come to life, we must trust and obey Him.  Just as my earthly father had a reason for the rules he imposed on me, God has a reason for the commands that he issued to us through His Holy Word.  God knows what is best for us and He wants us to have what is best in life.  But in order for us to have these good things, we must obey Him.

In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  In Luke 6:46 he says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I tell you?”  1 John 3:24 says, Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him.  We are promised eternal life in John 8:51, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  In James 1:22-25 we are told that we deceive ourselves if we only hear God’s word and do not do it.  I loved my dad and I wanted to be obedient to him.  If we truly love the Lord, then we want to obey His commands.

Maybe you’ve done some stupid things in your life that have gotten you off track with God, but know this, he loves you and he is waiting with open arms for you to come back to Him. You can talk to Him just as I could talk to my earthly father.  Won’t you turn to Him today before it’s too late.  Maybe you have been faithful, but you have problems with obedience from time to time.  Perhaps you are under bondage to one particular sin and can’t seem to break free.  Call on Him to help you in these areas and trust in Him to guide you. God honors our obedience.  Know that we will stand in judgement for all we do, good and bad, hidden and unhidden.  When I finally decided to choose obedience, God made my life much better.  He wants to do the same for you, won’t you give him that chance?

Have a great day!