THE PURSUIT OF EVERYTHING

Saturday: September 26, 2020

Ecclesiastes 11:9 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.

If a young person sought permission to do anything they wanted, the first half of today’s text is a no-brained because it gives absolute permission: “do everything you want to do, follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes”. That simply means “there is no restriction on what you can do, achieve and pursue as you wish”.

Yet, in the very next sentence, an interesting contrast is presented “Remember that you must give account for everything you do”. So all of a sudden, what seemed like a free pass is actually anything but that. Instead, ‘everything’ is tapered to include some things while others clearly don’t make the cut. For if an account is to be rendered in relation to our choices, pursuits and the intentions we carry through this life, then those decisions carry even more weight.

Thus we might wonder, are we free to do everything then or not? Well, my dear, the answer to that is found in the words “there is a way that seems right unto man, but the end of it is death” or as Saint Paul put it “some of you say, “We can do anything we want to.” But I tell you not everything is good for us. So I refuse to let anything have power over me.(1 Cor. 6:12).

Hence, the answer is made clear – “we can’t do everything we want”. Sweetheart, the heart of man is such a seeker that it will keep looking and pursuing regardless of what it already possesses. That is our indication to keep it in check because

“the pursuit of everything is a perfect recipe for disaster”

#sly