Gtcotr/ss070509
How was your 4th of July? (first service only)
Are you having fun? Tell me, is God happy when you’re happy? You know, life is designed to be fun and barring the tragedies of life, if you are not having fun, you may not be living life as God intended. And even though seasons of difficulties come, as Jesus said, you can still be of good cheer because you are designed to overcome those difficulties and get yourself back on the track of life God intended.
These past two weeks have been one of the most stressful times I have ever had as far as demands on my time and mental energies. If you know me then you know that is quite a statement. I am used to living in overdrive and maximizing every minute of my life. I even pre-program my sleep time to allow my mind to work while I rest.
Nonetheless, life needs to be fun and too much work and stressful engagement in life can make us forget what life is all about. And, on top of that, if we are not watchful and allow ourselves to stay too busy for too long we will begin to do poorly in every area of life.
When I was 14 my father gave me a car. It was setting out in our cow pasture where it was dragged when it quit running a couple of years earlier. He simply said, there it is … I’ll buy the parts, you do the work and if you can get it running you can have it.
I dragged it closer to our house and used a farm jack and wooden blocks cut off from cross ties to raise it up, higher and higher, until I finally had it setting up on 4, 55 gallon barrels. It was up so high I could almost walk underneath it.
Late one summer night, about midnight, I was under that car working to stab the last bolt started in an almost hidden hole that held the shifter link to the transmission. My mom came out to see me. She brought me a glass of tea which I did not have time to get out from under the car to take from her. She saw how tired I was but also how determined I was to finish. She asked me to stop and come in, clean up and get some rest.
I told my mom how long I had been working on this one last bolt and how close I was to getting it in. She simply turned around and went back to the house. I heard the screen door close behind her and then she stepped back out onto the porch and said, “Son, come on in now. If you will just get some rest that bolt will go in so much easier in the morning.” Well I was pretty frustrated anyway, so I took her advice as an excuse to quit for the night.
The next morning I went out and got back under that car and to my surprise, that bolt which I had worked on getting in for more than an hour the night before, just seemed to slip in so easy that morning. It took no time and I was finished, I let my car down, added some gas, boosted it off and away I went. What a lesson …
Through the years I have used that principle on myself and others with great success and since Brenda knows the story so well, when she sees that I need a break, she tells me to remember what my mom told me … take a break, things will work so much easier when you are rested. It works!
This is why, even with all of the necessary extra business lately, I followed that advice and Friday we went to the lake and just had some family fun. Yesterday morning I got my 3 year old granddaughter, Bella, to get a pan and a wooden spoon and go into the boys’ room, banging on the pan, yelling wake up, wake up!
When then came out, even though I did not have the extra time and so many things were calling out to be done, I threw them all into the pool for an early morning swim in their underwear. Some things in life are just too much fun to pass up even when you don’t have the time … and life, as we know it, is passing so fast.
Take time to have some fun … and don’t let business or troubles of life rob you of what God intended and of the opportunities He gives to you. Don’t be a stick in the mud!
Key Scripture: Deuteronomy 11:21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
This scripture is taken from the passage where God was encouraging His children to read His Word and teach it to their children, talk about and apply it to every area of life. And, if they did, the result would be a long and wonderful life … like days of heaven on earth.
That’s life as God intended … long and wonderful … it’s still what God intends for His children today … a wonderful, eternal life, filled with days which can only be described as heaven on earth.
Reckon what heaven will be like? Not the ‘in the sky’ heaven that seems so far away, but the eternal life heaven … the heaven we will be living and working, worshipping and playing in forever and ever. That Garden of Eden glimpse of God’s will for His children.
Turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. Since the Word is designed to bring heaven into our life, let’s get right to it.
Ecclesiastes 3 NLT
11 ¶ God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
12 So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can.
13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose in this is that people should fear him.
15 Whatever exists today and whatever will exist in the future has already existed in the past. For God calls each event back in its turn.
What are days of heaven on earth? What is life as God intended? Simply put by the writer of Ecclesiastes …
Be happy and to enjoy yourself as long as you can. (verse 12)
How? The Word continues … with verse 13:
Eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of your labor as gifts from God.
There is plenty of work to do and you will never get it all done. God intends for us to work as we should, to provide for our families and our future. However, we should realize that it is also God’s will that we live an enjoyable life and as such, we should set aside a reasonable amount of time and resources to make that happen … it is a gift from God.
God intends us to have pleasure in this life and we should acknowledge God for every pleasure He gives. However, if you are intending or enjoying pleasures of the sort which you know God does not give, then you need to stop! Here is a good rule of thumb: If you have to hide to do something then it is most likely not leading you to heaven, but creating hell!
We get this principle from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they disobeyed God, the first thing they did was hide. Why? Because they were afraid!
Sin causes guilt and guilt makes us afraid and so we often cover our fear by hiding. We think that if we hide, no one will notice. However, when God came to spend time with His children in the Garden, He called out to them, “Where are you?”
It was not because God did not know where they were but rather it was because they did not know where they were and how far they had strayed from God’s blessings and protection. Adam and Eve were the ones who had not taken inventory of just how far they were from God …
This is the same question God asks so many today is, “Where are you?”
God wants you to enjoy every blessing and pleasure He sends … a long and wonderful life … but you can’t get it through sin. If you have to hide to do it … just don’t do it!
This morning I am asking you to take inventory … ask yourself:
1. Am I enjoying my life?
2. Is God happy about the things which make me happy?
3. How can I begin to live life as God intended?
Allow me to answer number three for you. The answer is found in the passage where we read our Key Scripture. The answer involves you making the Word of God your guide to life.
Without regard as to the season or the situation you currently find yourself in … God’s Word will work for you. Search the scriptures to find out what you should do about your current circumstances and begin building heaven on the earth, a long and wonderful life, as you apply God’s Word to your daily decisions. It won’t take long --- start today!
