Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” NKJV
No More MacBeth Mourning's
Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this pretty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing
Of course this is from the pen of the great bard himself, Mr. William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act V, Scene V. Here king Macbeth, out of utter despondency counts his life as nothing, and in so doing of course, counts all life as nothing. It is of course most reminiscent of the lines from our Bible text of for this evening, which have in turn been pulled out from the journal of the richest, most wisest and yet most self indulgent man that ever lived- King Solomon himself.
Age creeps up on you. Young person I say to you again, age creeps up on you. Despite all your creams, wrinkles will still appear like unwanted maggots, crawling and wriggling on the crinkle cut surface of what was once your soft and supple skin. Despite the years of trying to shoo away the birds from your brow, Crow’s feet will still imprint themselves around your eyes yet they shall never assist you by pecking the smoky cataracts of discoloration from the once clear lenses of light imprinted beauty. Yes indeed and despite all those tens of thousands of abdominal crunches, your belly, your porky little penguin plump balloon, unbeknownst to you, has secretly made a pact with gravity and will fall in love with your belt, fondly folding its pink flesh wantonly over the top of the hot brown leather. Despite the alluring sound of this last sentence, getting old is just not that sexy!
Did I tell you that age creeps up on you? Well so does illness and incidents and accidents and all the other soft brown goo. There are days, maybe you have had one today and if not, then just wait awhile, for they shall surely come, yes, there are miserable Macbeth-like days, days that make life seem but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; that make life appear like a tale told by an idiot, simply a passing noise, full of sound and fury, which in the end, as far as you are now concerned, signifies nothing! These miseable Macbeth-like days come upon us all eventually, but God help the person who has them day after day, after all the long dark day.
There are but two ways that you can stop the dawning of such miserable Macbeth-like days in your life and they are to both 'Fear God and Focus’
Let’s deal with Focus First of all.
Focus. Tonight, number your days. Three scores years and ten might just be yours, and if so, how many of them might you now have left? Don’t count sheep tonight, count your days. Yes, Focus. Now you know how many you might have left, be sure to choose to enjoy each moment, live in each NOW moment, for the past was once but a NOW moment upon which you built your present and your future, should God grant you a future, is simply a phantom extrapolation which is built only upon what you shall do in the NOW. Enjoy NOW. Live NOW. Choose NOW.
Secondly, be sure to Fear God. Yes, number your days and focus upon your limited time span, your final destination, your gifts and callings and the living beat of your heart, but do it all in the sight of a Holy God!
The Apostle Paul went with confidence into his future. How about you? Whoever gives your euology at your funeral, will it be told in such a way that your life will be seen to be but a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing! If in all your deathbed dreams, God allows you to listen to such a eulogy tonight, will you feel that you have laboured like a woman in child birth and simply given birth to wind?
Tonight I want you to lie in your coffin, and imagine you are finally at the front of the church, your eyes closed, but your casket lid and crumpled-cartelidge ears, both open and listening. What will the eulogist say about your life, your loves, your achievements, your impact, yes your large cratered impact upon the once blue-lit wondrous world in which you walked?
Maybe tomorrow, it’s time for the comet to begin to change course. Maybe? For tonight it’s time to both Fear and Focus. Let’s get rid of those Macbeth-like mornings and death-like evenings once and for all time. Fear and focus friends, fear and focus. That's the key.
Listen:- For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV
Pray:-Lord, tonight may I change any despondancy I might carry, for the gifts of faith, hope, fear and focus, so that all my Macbeth-like mournings would truly wilt away. In Jesus name I ask it, amen.
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