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Ecclesiastes 12.13, 14 (NIV)
Now all has been
heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
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| Human nature easily deceives itself into thinking it has gotten away with something.* |
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The
Old Testament contains the Ten Commandments and is full of other laws and
regulations. But Jesus condensed all of those down to just two commandments: Love
God and love your neighbor (Mark 12.29–31). If we kept these two commandments,
the rest of them would be superfluous, as would a great deal of the New
Testament.
Here at the end
of his observations about life, Solomon says that it is the whole duty of man
to fear God and keep his commandments. The Anchor Bible translates “this is the whole duty of man” as, “this applies to everything.” You can’t segregate areas
of your life from God’s commandments. The rules apply to every corner of our
existence. And to every person.
Solomon
goes on to tell us a very good reason to keep God’s commandments: God is going
to judge everything we have done. We can’t keep secrets from God. Even the
secrets we keep from other people will be exposed in the end. He will judge
every evil thought and every secret we keep from ourselves. But here is the
beauty of God’s plan: if our sins are hidden by the blood of Jesus, there will
be nothing to judge! I am so thankful for his mercy!
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| Man’s enjoyment of life as God’s gift does not excuse him from obedience or exempt him from judgment.* |
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