Day 26 "Meaningful"

3 Things I picked up in this reading :)

1. “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.” (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

I have often heard the story used in leadership training about the young man who was logging in the forest. Upon joining the crew, he worked hard, but within a week he was told by the foreman to leave the crew because his productivity was dropping by day. “We’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today,” said the foreman. “But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!” The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”

The young man replied, “No sir, I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”

I was surprised to find Koheleth (teacher who wrote ecclesiastes) dropping a line with the morale of this story! If you don’t sharpen your axe, you must exert more strength! Abraham Lincoln also said, “Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the axe.” How often I forget to spend time in the word of God, toiling after the jewels of the world. Ecclesiastes clearly points out that ineffective labour is meaningless! Wisdom is found in the Word of God. Time spent in God’s word is like sharpening the axe. How often have I thought that I was too busy doing things for God that I forget to do things in God, through God, and with God!

2. "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”. (12:1)

As I mentioned somewhere in the previous blogs, Ecclesiastes draws for me a picture of a hopeless old man grabbing on to a young boy in his last breaths, pouring out his life of regrets and volumes of wisdom, begging the boy to take heed. How meaningless life is, but also, how vitally precious is the time we have left!

Time fleets by out of my grasp, and I cannot stop it nor slow it down. All I can do is to live it n God’s will, delighting in Him and what He has given to me. In a few days short of a couple months, I would bid farewell my teenage years. For me and for many other university students, this is the prime of life, when we don’t have to fight for every gasp of air, or cringe in pain with every step. The world is in front of us and within our generation. So remember the most important source of life and delight, before youth passes. Don’t let time fleet away without notice, but spend it in the wisdom of God.

3. “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (12: 13-14)

I often have to remind myself that time is ticking. The prime of life won’t last long. Life is unexpected and death approaches, morbid as it may sound. But aren’t supposed to live in fear. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” [2 Timothy 1:7] The more we spend time in the Word of God, the more we understand what God’s will for us is. Solomon had everything. Wealth, women, followers, authority… you name it. He also once was totally committed to worshipping God before he turned away from the source of his blessings to worship false gods. Through all the hopeless skepticism and apparent pessimism of his writing, the Koheleth concluded that we should fear God and obey Him. For He will hold us accountable to everything that we do on this earth. And that is why time on earth is so very valuable, even though it seems meaningless. Life, in fact, is packed with purpose and meaning, knit together before we were in our mother’s womb. Our God is sovereign, and although His ways are a mystery, the wisest thing we can ever do is to trust in Him, for after this brief life is over, we will be at His feet facing our judgment. For the moments so brief on earth plays a huge role in our span of timeless eternity. For what we do on this earth will determine our reward or judgment when the time comes.

Colossians 3:23-24

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

*It was interesting to note that just as i was writing up this post, a notification came through of my close friend's status update of the recent death of a famous actor, Paul Walker, best known for starring in Fast and Furious. His sudden tragic death was shocking to many, but also a reminder of the fragility of life. For death approaches like a thief in the night. Human lives are interconnected, we sorrow for the loss of life, for we were not created for goodbyes. It is difficult to address death, but it is a reality of life that everyone approaches. Thus, invest in the things that are truly important, right through to eternity.