Happy Friday!

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 3:13-14 ESV).

It’s Friday! While the days of the week are not as significant for me as they once were, I do recognize that God has carried most folks through another week of work, and you are now on the cusp of a new weekend. For many these next two days are free from work duties. It’s an opportunity for rest, leisure, and taking time to think about your lives in the ongoing development of God’s story in your journey. Thankfully we are not left to our own speculation about that. God wrote a book, and within that book is another book, the book of Ecclesiastes. It is the source for our reading today. Ecclesiastes is realistic. It teaches us that life under the sun is often empty, futile, and absurd, and yet it does not run us into the rocks of despair either. The conclusion of the book functions as the lens, the perspective, by which the whole of the book should be read. The writer declares: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (vv. 13-14). When we understand that this world isn’t paradise on earth, we are reminded that nothing is more important than a right relationship with God. Fortunately we can read in the New Testament how God has provided for the restoration of that relationship through the work of Christ. There is another wonderful reminder in Ecclesiastes though. Solomon reminds us of our limitations and finiteness. We read that God “has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). There are those times in my life when I find that very difficult to believe. I still counsel a couple of days each week. I am no less dismayed now than I have ever been. People are suffering just as much now as ever before. The grief of loss and the pain of misfortune seem to invade just as many people as ever before. I am almost always called on the answer for the beauty in those tragedies. My answer is always the same. It’s Friday in our world. I am convinced that the weekend is almost here. You see, that will be time when Jesus restores everything to its original plans and path. I do like Saturday. It seems to be the day that I can exhale and rest in the knowledge that I made it through another week. When Jesus comes, either to take me home or end this world, I will be able to exhale and know that I made it! We’re closer than ever. So, happy Friday, y’all!