Which Built Desolate Places

Psalm 39:5-6 "Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them."

Ecclesiastes 2:11 "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."

Isaiah 41:29 "Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.

We are a generation that's not unlike any other to pass through the valley of decision. We are facinated by the works of our hands. We take pride in our acedemic achievement, pride in our econnomic status, pride in our physical attributes, and we think to ourselves "WOW! LOOK AT ALL OF MY ACHIEVEMENTS!" We compare ourselves to our neighbors continuously, we have award ceremonies so that we can honor our own, we worship the strongest athletes, and we're facinated by the lives of the movers and shakers. We try constantly to "keep up with the Jonses" and we obsess over the accumulation of trappings. The seemingly odd title of this post is taken from Job 3:14. (KJV) Job was a man with incredible wealth in this world and yet didn't allow it to come between himself and God who holds in his hand the very breath of life. His steadfastness in the face of adversity testified to all that he understood the temporality of life on earth. (One thing of note. When Job suffered the loss of all that he had along with his very health, he didn't know that he would ever be restored.) And so it is with each of us who dwell in this present world. Your time in this life can come to an abrupt conclusion when you least expect it. (Eternity is only an aneurysm away) No matter what you accomplish or how much you acumulate in this life, when your final breath has passed, it'll stay right here in the realm of the physical. The more that you accumulate, the more that your relatives will have to squabble over when your days under the sun are completed.

Job 14:1-2 "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."

Christians get caught up in this same mindset way too often. We suppose to ourselves that gain is godliness, we concentrate on building earthly kingdoms and we get so "busy" that we don't take time to really seek the Lord as we should. To really get our affections on things above. ALL OF US do this to one degree or another. Much teaching today is of a fleshy nature; focusing primarily on being successful in this life while neglecting the weightier matters such as true charity, holiness, evangelism, and keeping your heart with all diligence. Instead of trusting the Lord to add unto the church daily such as should be saved, many compromise their message in order to bring in an increasingly larger crowd. Then they can construct a larger building to more effectively minister to the itching ears of thousands. Desolate Places! Where the word of God has been replaced by the doctrines of men. This is not to say that every church with a congregation of thousands is compromising the gospel. As in all cases, you'll know them by their fruit. If you uphold truth, in sincerety, you may not draw large numbers, but the ones that do come in will be serious about the things of God.

Philippians 3:7-9 "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found of him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

The apostle Paul had been, prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, a pharisee who had status and prestige amongst his contemporaries; a "Hebrew of Hebrews" if you will. When he came to know Jesus Christ, he counted it all as nothing. The more that you have your heart set on the eternal world to come, the less you'll be drawn to the temporal things of this life. This in turn will result in a more fervent stirving to be about the work of the gospel. You'll find yourself increasingly "disconnected" from the insignificant elements of the day as you draw increasingly closer to Jesus Christ who is from everlasting to everlasting. When you really begin to understand just WHO HE IS, you'll have a really difficult time in trying to be excited about the basketball season. Not because basketball, in itself, is a problem; you'll just understand how irrelevant it is in comparison to matters concerning the souls of men. Every day, souls are entering eternity. The decision that one makes concerning Jesus Christ will determine where they will spend that eternity. It is expediant that we be about the work of proclaiming the gospel; to instruct those that oppose themselves that Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from our sins. That he's no respect of persons and is rich unto all that call upon him.

I Corinthians 3:13-15 "Every mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any mans work shall be burned, he shall sufferloss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

IT'S ALL GOING TO BURN! Everything that you see, hear, touch and smell will one day cease to exist. I say this often because I'm not sure that we really grasp it. Since we entered the land of the physical, everything has continued on from the time of our forefathers. Yet none of us have a guarentee that we're going to be here tomorrow. Anything can happen. If you're born again, the thought of being absent from the body and present with the Lord should put a song in your heart. Our foremost striving should be the proclaiming of the good news; that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Not the wisdom of men, not a ten step program, but the word of God. As I wrap this up, it's my sincere prayer that we all would be about our Fathers business. This posting is of a very elementary nature, but it involves a very serious matter. To watch and pray without ceasing while we lay up treasure in heaven. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.