10-12-20   THOUGHTS

Several times in the past weeks I have found myself using Ps 39:4  "LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient [fleeting frail] I am.”
The idea is to help us be aware that this time on earth isn’t what LIFE IS!  
1Cor 15:19   If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
So the book of Ecclesiastes is designed to show men the futility of what we treasure as LIFE.
If we observe the physical activities of animals, they do the same things we do.  
Eccl 3:19   For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
This VANITY or FUTILITY idea is promoted throughout the book.  
There’s a hint in  Eccl 3:21  Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
It is man that God made in His image and 1Cor 15:45 tells us “So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.”
The SOUL of man [Adam] given in the beginning, needed the last Adam [CHRIST] to have LIFE ETERNAL!
John 8:12     Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Micah 6:8  He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Eccl 12:7-8    then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. 8  "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"
Eccl 12:13   The conclusion, when all has been heard, [is:] fear God and keep His commandments, because this [applies to] every person.
2Pet 3:11-12   Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
Rom 8:5-6  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
I will one day be but a memory, precious to a few, unknown to the many.  My SOUL IS WHAT MATTERS!   I must live as God has instructed... I must BE HIS CHILD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS!   I WANT TO HOLD HIS HAND EACH STEP OF THE WAY!

My Prayer:
Lord teach us your greatness and our smallness.  May we ever walk humbly in your presence. Help us to choose the life of the sojourner, to see what is spiritual and eternal, and to love it.  Make our minds accepting to every thought of You and Jesus, that we might truly have life. Thank you for the promise of heaven and for making that promise good in Jesus.  We would spend eternity with you Oh God, please.  We praise your awesome name.
In the name of our Savior Jesus                 Amen