I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:
TO HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE
Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
Solomon had a way of always keeping perspective about the future. While he talked much about enjoying the fruit of our labor, enjoying our youth, and enjoying the blessings of God, he always kept in mind how little those things mean in light of eternity. He always had a sense of the fact that God would hold us accountable. I grew up being taught that same principle, and I am also trying to teach it to my children. I knew growing up that whatever I did, my mom and dad were going to hold me accountable. If I was disciplined at school, I would face another discipline at home. If my Sunday school teacher had to get on me for not behaving, my mother would deal with that immediately. If my parents heard through the “grapevine” that I had been involved with, or part of, or even associated with ill-advised activities, well you know what I happened. Let’s just say they kept me “accountable”.
Solomon says here to enjoy your life, especially when you are young and have the energy. He says to “let thy heart cheer thee”. Do not burden yourself down needlessly with worry and stress, enjoy your days. Trust me, when you get older, you’ll have plenty to stress about. Solomon says to walk in the “ways of thine heart”. In other words, it is ok to follow your heart, but do not let it lead you where you should not go. He says to enjoy the sight of thine eyes. The day will come when your eyesight and hearing and muscles and energy will not be as good as they once were. Solomon tells us that these are good days, and should be enjoyable days, but you must keep something in mind. “For all these things God will bring thee into judgement”. There is nothing wrong with enjoying yourself, but remember, God will hold you accountable for the decisions we make and the actions we take. God is able to that. He has the right.
Because of this, we are told in verse ten to keep our “attitude” right, and our “actions” right. That is, our heart and our flesh. You see, we can make some very wrong decisions based on very “vain” desires and motivations. It is right to enjoy your life, but it is wrong to enjoy it in the wrong way. You and I need to enjoy the things that God has brought into our life, but God has never given anything to one of his children for them to use to satisfy vain flesh. I encourage you today, just remember that we are accountable to God. Just because you are a believer, it does not give us the right, or a free pass to do whatever we want with no consequences. While I am convinced that God is able to do limitless, miraculous things in our life, I am also convinced that He is able to keep us accountable. Let’s remember that today.