Lyle's Blog

The book of Ecclesiastes is a reflection on life by king Solomon of Israel. God had given him all knowledge and wisdom and because he asked for those things and not the usual power and riches, God gave him those things too. What happens when one is blessed with everything?

As it is today, power corrupts the morals and the judgment and so it was in the life of the smartest man on earth. He lamented that he saw no meaning in life; no matter what you achieve, you die and leave it to another. In fact, mankind had no “special” place in the eyes of God, animals live and die the same way. There is nothing special about man.

Chasing after the wind; everything is chasing after the wind. Or is it?

He forgot that life isn’t about himself. At the end of the book, he throws out the sum of his thoughts; fear God and do what he tells you.

So a man given all wisdom comes up with that assessment of life? His observations were right. LIfe seems to repeat itself generation to generation. People live, people die, everyone and everything, up in smoke.

Solomon didn’t know why he was on the earth. I would venture to say that he didn’t cultivate the knowledge and wisdom God gave him. The fundamental questions of life, he couldn’t answer. Why are you here and what is your destiny? Granted he lived long before the coming of Jesus Christ but we are clearly told what we are here for back in the time of Moses. Knowing the Word of God is so vital.

We, like the animals and everything created, are here for one purpose: to give God pleasure, to love God. We’re not here to achieve anything except a close relationship with God and to persuade others to do the same. Forget the nice house, cars, college degrees, your children living better than you, and all the rest of the trite things we strive for.

The Bible puts it this way: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The only thing valuable about you is your soul. Bank accounts, land, reputation are gone once you are buried. The greatest of men are simply forgotten. I remember my parents, they were wonderful people, but their life was like a vapor; they are simply gone and the place they once were remembers them no more.

We have gobs of “smart” men these days. They are no smarter than Solomon. Some of the very rich are striving to find a way to live beyond their life here. They are very smart fools because it’s appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment.

In the end, I agree with Solomon. Fear God for he holds the very breath we breathe in his hand. Do what God says for that is the way God knows you love Him. All your heart, all your life, all your mind; there’s nothing left to give then. God needs to know that you love Him otherwise He has no use for you.

These thoughts come from the book of Samuel. Samuel was given to the Lord by his mother. At a very young age, Hanna put little Samuel under the mentoring of Eli the prophet. Eli prayed and asked the Lord to bless Hanna with more children. God did so; God answered the prayers of Eli.

Eli had two sons both of which strayed far from God. They used the office and influence of their father for their own pleasure and gain. In the end, the two sons were killed in battle, and Eli upon hearing the news, fell and broke his neck.

It’s interesting to note that Samuel had two sons. Eli seemed embarrassed or disappointed in his sons but Samuel did not. Samuel being mentored by Eli ends up doing things the way Eli did them right down to raising two disrespectful, ungodly sons.

When the people complained about the shinanigans of Samuel’s sons, the people said they wanted a king instead of a judge. This displeased Samuel and apparently, God wasn’t too happy either. The people knew that Samuel would die and they would be left with two very corrupt judges to rule over them.

God says something interesting in 1st Samuel: 8 verse 7. The people had rejected God, not Samuel. So Samuel you don’t have to be upset with the people rejecting you. They’ve rejected me. At a casual reading, it makes sense that the people were right. Those two sons weren’t worthy to be judges. Or maybe they were.

Judges come and judges go. In our short lives, we witness this very thing. The old adage “be sure your sins will find you out” is true. Sinners become bolder and bolder; their own pride brings their fall.

God had a few sharp words for the people of Israel, rebuking them for blatantly sinning against him. So corrupt men being judged by corrupt men seemed almost appropriate. Why do you need fair judging by deciding the affairs of corrupt people? You don’t. Deciding who is the least crooked is a frustrating enterprise for a judge.

We learn here that the people rejected God’s way of doing things. God anointed judges to decide which party was right. Judges used the Word of God to understand which way to judge. But God was their king.

The people were rejecting the whole way God does things. They wanted to be like the rest of the nations; they wanted a king of flesh and blood. God told Samuel to give them what they wanted but warn them what kind of king they would get.

Saul was strong, handsome and in the beginning, seemed like a great choice. It didn’t take him long to become like the other kings of the world, a supreme leader. What the king says, goes. Period. If you don’t like it, you will pay if you disobey. The penalty for disobedience gets harsher and harsher.

So what’s the difference between having an earthly king and God himself? God is just. He never changes. What God said a thousand years ago remains the same today. God is not a sinner. God cares for his creation. He cares for you. When you screw up, God forgives you if you repent. God removes the sin from your record. God can choose to forget what offended him. His compassions do not fail. He knows who you are. He has a count of the hairs on your head. He loves you and wants to adopt you into his family. God is the very definition of good and true.

Earthly kings, not so much. For a time they may do some good things. Indeed there a “good” leaders and “bad” leaders but there is a major difference between judges and kings. Judges have a gavel; kings have an army. We can survive a bad judge but kings bring bloodshed, suffering of unthinkable measure, and destroy the hope of children. Judges work under the lawgiver; kings make up their own laws.

Our founding fathers knew all this. Power is like fire. In small quantities, it accomplishes an intended useful purpose. But power, like fire grows if left unattended and what was once useful, destroys our lives. We have a government with too much power and now there is much rangling for control of the all-powerful state.

The present struggle is so violent because there are two world views at odds with each other. Do we want judges or do we want to come under the leadership of an all-powerful king? Will it be America or the New World Order? The spirit of antichrist has always been on the earth. It grows year by year. Donald Trump has been a stumbling block on the path to successful world domination by men desiring total control of fire.

Pray for Donald Trump.

Becoming a Christian is referred to as being born again. What does that mean? We come into this world self-absorbed out of necessity. Most of us want to raise children to be interested in the needs of the world around them while at the same time being confident in their own self worth and value.

We may be of value to ourselves and others but not to God. We’re not born God-centered and that is what separates us from him. Jesus said if we love our family, neighbors, or things more than him, we are not worthy of him. If we loved God, he would be first in our lives; that’s not the state we’re born in.

We are born loving whatever is fanciful to us. We love certain people. We love to travel, homes, prestige, fame, power, comfort; we love ourselves. Now it’s OK to be confident, to be successful, to love people. The problem lies in our love affair with this world. We are born separated from God. We are born of flesh with a dead spirit.

Our spirit is what is eternal and we are dead in our trespasses and sin. We need to be born again, raised from the dead. It is then that we become God-centered. We love him, want to please him, believe him, and seek time alone with him. He becomes our lover. Pleasing him becomes more important than our spouse and children. We’ve all heard the phrase, “happy wife, happy life”. It’s great to treat your spouse well but sometimes pleasing God gets in the way of keeping others happy. We become yes men for the sake of not rocking the boat. God wants to rock your world.

Being born again means that the old ways are gone, all things become new. Our desire is to please God. Everyone and everything must be at best in second place. But we aren’t to ignore them. We’re to encourage them to abandon the life of sin and follow along with us, fellow laborers in God’s service. But even if no one goes with us, we still go.

Our modern world has made possible a life of comfort, ease, and hope. We aren’t quite inclined to need a savior. And a savior from what? We’re nice people, aren’t we? What’s Jesus mean when he says we are poor, naked, and blind? Without God, we are poor, we have no inheritance. Like Adam and Eve, we are naked. God sees every blemish, every sin. He created the world as perfect and we have deeply marred the image we were created in. And we are blind, blind to how we have hurt him, dishonored him, and refused to give him the glory he deserves as the creator of everything.

Being born again gives us a desire to return to Eden when God walked with man and man loved God with all his heart, soul, and mind and Eve as much as he loved himself.

Mom died in July of 1996. She had liver disease for years and suffered since 1982. When she passed, I didn’t cry. I was numb, almost indifferent, not to her, but to the reality of it all. No, it had to settle in, plague me with guilt.

I hadn’t been a good son. Oh, I said I love you, was “kind”, or so I thought. But for years my self-centeredness cursed me. She was Mom and I was a very old child.

After a few days I went to her grave. I wept bitterly. I told her I was sorry but she couldn’t hear me. Why was she so pure and I so sinful? Scripture tells us we have hearts of stone and we need a heart of flesh, one that can feel, ache, and appreciate and be thankful for the blessing we have.

My mother was that unwavering blessing. I guess I’m trying to encourage you to say things while ears can still hear and tears can come from joy and not regret.

I went to that grave a couple of times after that. I wept more tears. I knew the truth. I needed forgiveness but Momma couldn’t hear me anymore.

It is by Jesus Christ I can lay that burden down and it by Jesus Christ I can see Momma again. I love you, Momma.

In the world of BLM, only black lives matter. Black people are the only ones that face discrimination. They are the only ones that were slaves. Truth be known, blacks were slaves and many were brutally treated but then slavery was a way of life for thousands of years. Every race and creed have been slaves. Slavery has developed a population that resents previous ownership and now want reparations. In fact, we are supposed to kiss their feet.

A majority in this country are ungrateful for the achievements and sacrifices of previous Americans because our ancestors grew up in a culture that was born in a time where slavery was a part of normal life.. If you inherited slaves at eleven years old, our all-wise and pig-headed elitist malcontents deem that somehow that boy, born before the end of slavery, is somehow guilty of sin, a sin that the whole world participated in.

This is a burden we would usually not thrust on a boy so young or so we thought. In the day when everything a white does is a hate crime we find the young are not exempt from the rage of the mob.

Recently a twelve-year-old boy was arrested for writing some clearly inappropriate things to a popular footballer. Yes, what wrote was wrong, but it is hardly the things you arrest a young boy for.

The left finds no problem letting the worst criminals out of prison for the sake of the coronavirus hoax, but arrest a child for saying something racial. Apparently the left has christened hate crimes as the ultimate breaking of the law. To heck with theft, assault, rape, mayhem, riot, and murder.

If BLM, ANTIFA, and other assorted miscreants are not brought under control, the left will achieve their dream of unfettered revenge. Our founding fathers gave us a republic which enabled us to become better people. The left believes that they made the wrong choice and that we should have followed the French model of revolution.

The mob is now confronting successful, “overly wealthy” citizens in their homes. They want blood, heads to roll, and their appetite is insatiable. Boiling down this ill-conceived concoction of self-induced misery, the left has declared itself moral and virtue free, doomed to perish in wanton stupidity.

By destroying the past, their future lies in ruins and they become recipients of the zonk prize behind door number three. By seizing unearned booty their government checks will be underwritten by no one and the promises they made to their followers will be realized as empty.

This is a generation of our making by allowing the young to bathe in Marxist dogma and worship at the alter of everything self. It is to our shame that we’ve allowed liberty to slip through our fingers without much protest.

We’ve never said no loud enough. We paid for the schooling that taught them to hate us. Will we have to pay back what we never stole? Will there be a fight? Will we wear masks forever? If so, your life isn’t worth living.

Having something worth living for is important; having something worth dying for most important. What will we give in exchange for our soul?