Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11 NIV)
Take inventory of what’s going on in your life. Eliminate ( cut and prune ) things that are not profitable. Staying in direct line of the will of God that he has for you will profit greatly and it will bring him the glory knowing you are acting in obedience.
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 2:26 KJV)
Stepping back to observe and weigh the things you say and do on a daily basis gives you a broader perspective of what’s really important. Pleasing God should be your first choice; not the last resort if you seek to live righteously for Him. A time of rest may be in order. This time of rest I am referring to is of stepping back from things that are optional and/or not of great importance. If you have a job that pays the bills then that is not what I am talking about. It’s those social gatherings, projects, idle time given or used that is of your free leisure and things along those lines. Now I’m not saying that they are not valuable or of good service to the Lord even if it’s volunteering within your local church. What I am saying though is that there is a season to everything. (Ecclesiastes 3)
Don’t hinder your growth and time with God if he is wanting to spend some alone time with you. This is something you should want as well. Doing so will develop a more personal and intimate relationship with Him as well as building character within yourself.
Chasing the wind doesn’t give you perfect peace. Jesus does. Running around as a busybody trying to make good on pleasures and vanities of this world, you will continue to search after things in life that brings temporary joy that will soon dissipate. Rich or poor we will all leave this earth with nothing in our hands. The life we live ( in Christ ) the values, integrity, service unto the Lord that is shared with others matters. No treasures, beauty or excellent education will be of gain or profit in heaven.
* spoken by Jesus “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 KJV)
Don’t become consumed with the ways of this world that profit you nothing if you want to truly be grounded in God. It is very easy to get caught up doing “good works” that eventually may lead you astray from choosing ” the better part”; receive the word of God that it may be applied to your life and that of others. With wisdom comes discernment and knowledge. Peace and joy with contentment will be your anchor for it is the Lord Almighty keeping you with a steadfast heart and mind.
Which will you choose?
Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)–[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be). (1 John 5:21 AMP)
Living Simply In Abundance 
Amen! Good to see you, Terra.
Thanks LeRoy. It’s good to be back. I have not been well lately but I am clinging to the Lord to bring me through with a full recovery. Writing this post took a really long time but I pressed through. Praise be to God! Bless you for noticing I have been away. 🙂
Great post. A few months ago I did an indepth study of Ecclesiastes. I found that Solomon was quite the interesting fellow. He tried everything possible to find true fulfillment in his life. While he found the work and pleasures were good the only fulfilling thing he found was to “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13). In other words we find our purpose in God and in purpose we find our meaning. Again this was an awesome post! God bless you Terra 🙂
Thanks Brandon. You are on point about Solomon. Thank you! His story is quite interesting and one that I really want to go deeper into. I’ll look through your blog to see if I can link to it if you don’t mind. I do want to go back and link related articles in general if possible. Yours just might pop up. I’m not feeling that great but I put my all into it. There’s always room additional info :)Thanks again and God bless you for the inspiration!
Oh I did not write a post about it. It was just a personal study. But maybe I write a post about it in the future. Thanks for the idea.
* thanks for the misunderstanding on my part! Lol. But maybe this will bring forth a post on this by you I agree. 🙂
Thank you so much for this. I am blessed by your love for and obedience to the Lord. I pray He will help us all to make Him first and make time with Him a priority in this hectic world full of obligations and distractions, and that we will allow Him to prune us and cut off everything not producing fruit for Him! God bless and keep you, Terra.
How I am always blessed by your love and encouragement. Thank you! I am prayerful that we will open our eyes and prune our hearts to the very things that do not fully have us operating in the fullest potential of Christ our Lord. May our desire ever increase to put God first in all that we do.
God bless you sister! Thank you again with abundant love in my heart.
Terra, so pleased to find your blog because you “liked” my contributing author post on Chrisitian Blessings! Thank you very much and many blessings on you! You are so correct that we must just BE with God if we are to know how to keep his commandments, as Solomon knew in Ecclesiastes. We cannot know God’s ways if we do not do as His only begotten Son, our dear Lord Jesus Christ did and “go aside to pray”. We must patiently wait for the Lord’s voice, yes we must. I am praying for you to have a full recovery RIGHT NOW!
granbee,
Thank you and Amen to the message brought by Solomon! Profound thoughts as to what is of great inportance in the Lord. You are very welcome about me ” liking ” your post. I enjoyed reading it. I really appreciate your prayers concerning my health. God is restoring me! I lean on and trust Him to fully heal me. God bless you in all you speak and do in his name and for extending your heart towards me!
Wow, absolutely outstanding post. One after my own heart. Well written! Love it love it.
Thanks for taking the time to write and share this.
Thank you Liz and you are welcome! It grabbed my heart just as well. I’m still living in the time that I wrote it. What revelation the Lord placed before me! Thank you for the support. God bless you indeed!
A never ending message! Never gets old and is always relevant. Whether we become distracted by the true demands of life or simply try to “keep” ourselves busy, we must never exchange our intimate time with Him. Those quiet times with Him along with the Word, fasting, and praying, are certainly vital for our spiritual growth.