Prior to my recent trip to the keys, l was going bonkers from boredom. I’m sure I felt like many of you do sometimes. It seems like Groundhog Day as we get mired in a perpetual lazy lifestyle. Each new day repeats itself with torturous repetition.
I hate to waste even one day of my life, I look at each new day as a gift from God. But for whatever reason, I slipped into the abyss of laziness. I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where God just sat around. When He created the heavens and earth, He was busy for six days and set aside the seventh as His Sabbath day to rest. Aside from the Sabbath Day, He was at work.
Fortunately, I have snapped out of it and am tackling all the stuff on my farm that needs attention and it is considerable. Yesterday for example a big pile of logs got cut up and is now two cords of firewood. I also began cleaning up the messes that accumulated during deer season while I played. I’ve got many projects lined up for today and it feels good to get back into work mode. I slept better last night than I have in a while and my muscles are letting me know this morning how displeased they are that I have not used them lately and I suppose this is their punishment. In short, I’m sore all over, but it is a good soreness and I don’t mind one whit.
King Solomon accomplished so much during his life that it is difficult to enumerate it all. Like the rest of us, he sinned but he also built the temple in Jerusalem and wrote three masterpiece chapters that are included in the Bible. When he got on up in age, he wrote most of Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. He gave us glimpses of his fascinating life and I used much of his wisdom raising my children and during my career.
It is worthwhile to study this book because he became the richest man of his time and according to the Bible was the wisest man who ever lived or would live. He was an amazing king and others recognized it. World leaders like the Queen of Sheba traveled vast distances and endured hardships just to sit at his knee and listen to his wisdom. He had an amazing knowledge of just about any subject, even ordinary things such as birds, animals, plants, and many other subjects.
He wrote about God in Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.“
There is an adage that states, “we never know what we have until it is taken away from us.”Freedom to come and go as we please has never been more cherished, at least in my lifetime. If it were taken away, I would dearly miss going to church, seeing my children and grandchildren, going out to eat with friends, getting on an airplane and going somewhere of my choosing, going to the gym daily, working in jobs where I desire to work, and so on and can hardly imagine how folks living in lands without those freedoms cope.
I hope they will read Samuel. I once read it and remember King David trying to escape the wrath of King Saul who wanted to kill him. At the time I told my Bible study partner that it reminded me of the trials that Moses, Joseph, the Apostle Paul, and other biblical heroes underwent prior to emerging from it as powerhouses for the Lord. It seems that God desires the purification of His people. Once we pass through the fire, we come out on the other side better for it, having endured the worst of it so we can enjoy the best of it. So, I suppose we should do as recommended in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We must be patient and focus on muddling through this sometimes-troublesome world. I believe staying busy and working is the answer, so just roll up your sleeves today and get those things done you have been putting off and most of all be happy in your work knowing that the will of God has resulted in our having Jesus by our side as He perfects us.
James 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.