Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

This chapter is quite well known, with the first eight verses being made into a song by Pete Seeger around 65 years ago that became internationally famous around 1965. Likewise, verse 11 is well known in musical settings. However, this verse is often overlooked. It is a statement of the sovereignty of God, and how man should respond to that sovereignty. An evangelist once popularized the saying, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” However, our belief or disbelief doesn’t change God. That is more accurately stated, “God said it. That settles it.” Our faith is important, but it changes us and how we experience God, and doesn’t change God Himself. For some strange reason we have trouble getting that through our heads. Some people seem to think that denying God hurts Him, when what it does is cut them off from many of His gracious blessings. It is ironic that Solomon wrote this verse, because he himself failed to fear/revere God in his later years. Solomon, though very intelligent, fell into the conceit that is common among those with a high IQ and thought he could choose his life without considering what God had said. He forgot the very truth that he himself had recorded! Man has been given the privilege of discovering what God has done in Creation, and the fact that he can do so is actually pretty impressive. However, we need to maintain a fundamental humility that recognizes that God is the Creator, and we are part of His Creation. Failure to do that leads to all sorts of aberrations, and is disastrous.

I am all too familiar with conceit, and know that it can wear a very religious face. God in His mercy confronted me with my conceit in 1972, but it has tried to resurrect many times since then. That’s not the kind of resurrection I need! I am to be a faithful steward of the gifts and abilities God has given me, but I am never to think that I am adding to or taking away from God. I am to plan, but only after asking God to guide me. I am to act, but with the awareness that I have no power or wisdom in myself. I am to stand firm in Him, knowing that, as the hymn says, “all other ground is sinking sand.” I must never let anything distract me from my focus on my Lord.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You for all You have been doing in, around, and through me. Thank You for the wisdom You conveyed to me last night of something I should do today. Help me spend each moment of today, and each day, doing Your will and nothing else, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!