All is Gift

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live, and that everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil--this is the gift of God" Ecclesiastes 3:11-3, NIV

My church family here is Blacksburg (eblacksburg.com) has been going through the book of Ecclesiastes for the past month, and I honestly have to say I never could have guessed how much God would show me through Solomon's words of wisdom. What is the Christian life? In American Christian culture, we only hear from the pastors of mega churches, the authors of bestselling books, and the missionary biographies of the extreme sort, and I don't know about you, but I've been deceived into thinking that following Christ means I have to do something "big" for him. Nevertheless, Ecclesiastes has shed a bright light on that myth, exposing the insanity of it. And I've been contemplating over the question, "What does the Christian life really look like?"

Solomon makes a statement a few times in Ecclesiastes that is shocking in our culture. He says the GIFT of GOD to man is this: for a man to accept his lot and to be happy in his work (5:19). Solomon continues on to say that when a person is able to do this, he seldom reflects on the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Whoa, hold on a second! Could this mean that God is most pleased when we are content to find joy in what he has given us? And then God keeps us busy with the joy in our heart, not busy with an overabundance of Christian activities? Where is the part about all the good stuff I need to accomplish for God and his Kingdom?

Here it is again: "There is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work because that is his lot (3:22)." And again: "What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment (2:22-25)?"

I have always had a driven personality, and I've been known to take my performance-focused nature too far, yet I've always felt justified in my mind because I thought I was sacrificing my body, my time, and my rest for Kingdom work! But this is absurd! All my anxious thoughts, endless striving and laboring, and my not taking a day of rest so I could cram in more work, and watching my health suffer under the weight of my self-imposed stress...how could any of this be godly? Not only does God not require these things of me, but it goes against his Word and turns out to be a miserable business! I am relieved to discover that this is not the Christian life. So now that it is clear what the Christian life is NOT, I want to share more about what I'm learning it IS...

I've been reading an excellent book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp (totally recommend it; it's short). I won't spoil it for you, but the major theme is to realize that ALL is GIFT (James 1:17).What do you have that you did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7)? The best part about Ann, the author, is that she lives a very simple life. She is married to a farmer, and serves as a home-school mom full-time. She keeps a list of things she is thankful for (hence the title), and it helps her to see God in everything, even the bad. "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble (Job 2:10)?" Naked we come into this world and naked we will leave. The Lord gives and he takes away; may the name of the Lord be praised (Job 1:21-22)."

The Christian life is being joyful always, praying continually, and giving thanks in ALL circumstances,for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:16-18).This passage used to sound like another item on my Christian do-to list that I knew I'd never accomplish until I read this book and I realized how naturally it comes about when we live resting in the NEW COVENANT! Prayer is just a conversation with God, and if we are seeing everything in our lives as gifts to thank God for, the conversation never grows dull.

I think of Paul who spent the first part of his life enslaved to the law. When Christ came into his life, he was SO GRATEFUL to be free of the relentless uphill battle of trying to win God’s favor through obeying rules. When the Jews of the Jerusalem Council wanted to force the Gentile believers to be circumcised and to obey the Mosaic Law, Paul was furious! “How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” he asks in Galatians 4:9. Weak. Miserable. That’s what it feels like to try to do everything the right way all the time.

"What happened to your joy?”he asks. Well, I know what happened to it. It was sucked dry by the guilt-recommitment-failure cycle every believer has experienced.We were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:22-25). The law is our escort to Christ!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery"(Gal. 5:1). Our yoke in the New Covenant is the yoke of entrusting everything to Christ, and he says it is easy (Matt. 11:29). Why is it easy?? Jesus has done it all for us! And he gives us his spirit so that his law is written on our hearts, enabling us to please God! What we do and say have nothing to do with our justification. The only thing that counts is “faith expressing itself through love" (5:6) and becoming a “new creation” (6:15) through the powerful work of the Spirit.

To my sinful tendency to receive favor, acceptance, and praise from others, Paul says clearly, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ (1:10)." I cannot have my heart set on making others see me in a certain light; I’m a sinner! I am a sinner saved by the grace of God through faith in the perfect blood of the lamb. Man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus. By observing the law, no one will be justified. If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:16, 21)!

When I try to do what I should out of guilt or pressure and I succeed by trying harder, the result is always PRIDE. If I do not succeed, it is despair. God saves us by grace so that no man can boast in anything but the cross of Christ (6:14).When I try to earn or maintain favor with God by doing and saying the “right” things, I am under a curse, for all who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law (3:10)." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (3:13).

Maybe this entry should have been split into two...oops! It's just that I've been learning and growing so much I just feel like I'm about to explode, and I think I just did.The pressure is off, brothers and sisters; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! Freedom to live as we were made to live.