Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The Whole Duty of Man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (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.
COMMENTARY PEARL
Created to Know Him
If you are seeking fulfillment, purpose,
or meaning from this world and from human
accomplishments, I have some bad news: you will never find
it. There is nothing in the world that will fill
the deepest void in your life - not the ultimate
car, not the greatest job, not the most beautiful
girl or the most handsome guy, not the greatest
education, not winning it all on American Idol. There
is nothing that can even come close.
King Solomon, one of the wealthiest men
who ever lived, had everything he wanted. Yet he
went on a binge, frying to satisfy his appetites
with the wrong things. He went after passion. He
went after possessions. He went after things of
beauty and buildings and land. He drank, and he
partied. After all of that, here was his conclusion:
"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was
meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained
under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11, NLT).
Have you ever been ravenously hungry and
tried to satisfy your appetite with snacking? It
just doesn't work. You want a real meal. In the
same way, we were created with a God-shaped hole
in our lives. We have been created to love God,
to know God, and to bear fruit. Everything else
is secondary.
Think about it: everything else in life,
every other responsibility, no matter how
significant, must be ordered behind the central purpose
of your existence on earth - knowing, loving,
and serving your Creator. Yes, God cares about
your career, your marriage, your family, and your
ministry. But knowing Him, prioritizing Him, is number
one. And when you do, the Bible says you never
will be a loser for it.
Jesus said it like this: "Your heavenly
Father already knows all your needs. Seek the
Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously,
and he will give you everything you need"
(Matthew 6:32, 33, NLT). [Every Day with Jesus by
Greg Laurie]
COMMENTARY
The duty to worship God is based upon the
fact that He is the Creator and that to Him all
other beings owe their existence. GC436,7
The whole duty of man is summed up by the
Saviour. He says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself." FE186,7
The commandments of God are comprehensive
and far reaching; in a few words they unfold the
whole duty of man. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself".
1SM320,1
We are under solemn, sacred covenant to God
to bring up our children for Him and not for
the world; to teach them not to put their hands
into the hand of the world, but to love and fear
God, and to keep His commandments. They should be
impressed with the thought that they are formed in the
image of their Creator and that Christ is the
pattern after which they are to be fashioned. Most
earnest attention must be given to the education
which will impart a knowledge of salvation, and
will conform the life and character to the divine
similitude. 6T127
Not Obsolete. Absolute.
One-fourth of Americans today can name
whats in a Big Mac, and one in three people can
name all the kids from The Brady Bunch. But only
14 percent of Americans can name the Ten
Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are at the heart of
Western civilization and form the foundation of our
legal system. God has given us the solutions to
all of our problems right here in the
Scriptures. And theyre broken out for us in the Ten
Commandments, which we find in Exodus 20 (NKJV):
1. You shall have no other gods before
Me (verse 3).
2. You shall not make for yourself a
carved image - any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth; you shall
not bow down to them nor serve them (verses
4"5).
3. You shall not take the name of the
Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold
him guiltless who takes His name in vain
(verse 7).
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep
it holy (verse 8).
5. Honor your father and your mother,
that your days may be long upon the land which
the Lord your God is giving you (verse 12).
6. You shall not murder (verse 13).
7. You shall not commit adultery
(verse 14).
8. You shall not steal (verse 15).
9. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor (verse 16).
10. You shall not covet your
neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbors
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female
servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything
that is your neighbors (verse 17).
God gave us the Ten Commandments for our
own good so that we can go from hopelessness to
happiness. But we need to do more than just memorize
them. We need to internalize them because
theyre not obsolete; theyre absolute. [Greg
Laurie from Harvest Ministries;
https://www.harvestdaily.com]
I have a love-hate relationship with my
GPS because sometimes I think it takes me the
wrong way. In fact, Ive read some interesting
stories about people who followed a GPS and ended up
in some pretty strange places.
When the Israelites left Egypt, their GPS
system was very simple: they moved when the Lord
told them to move, and they went where the Lord
told them to go.
Today, God directs us through His Word.
Its our GPS system, so to speak, confirmed to us
by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We can find
everything we need to know about God and about life in
the pages of the Bible.
Psalm 1 summarizes this for us: Oh,
the joys of those who do not follow the advice
of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or
join in with mockers (verse 1 NLT).
If you want to be happy, according to
Psalm 1, then dont hang out with ungodly
people, go to ungodly places, and do ungodly
things.
The psalmist goes on to say, But they
delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day
and night. They are like trees planted along the
riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves
never wither, and they prosper in all they do
(verses 2"3 NLT).
God has laid out His parameters for our
own protection, for our own good. And as we get
older, we start seeing the repercussions of the
decisions people made when they were younger.
Solomon, the king of Israel, was renowned
for his wisdom. With his unlimited resources, he
decided to see for himself everything this world had
to offer. Eventually, he came to this
conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this
is everyones duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13
NLT).
It comes down to this: Gods way is the
right way. [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries;
https://www.harvestdaily.com]
CLOSING THOUGHT
Everyone seeks fulfillment. Most of us have
some goal or dream that we think will bring
fulfillment to our lives. But God has wired us in a way
that we cannot truly find fulfillment by pursuing
things of this world. We can only find it by
pursuing him. Solomon, traditionally believed to be
the author of Ecclesiastes, gives us an eloquent
testimony to that fact. He pursued every avenue of
pleasure without hindrance and found them all empty.
In the end, he said that all is meaningless
except knowing God and obeying him. [NIV Once A Day
Bible]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The Whole Duty Of Man
Is:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20050304-1050.html
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The Whole Duty of Man.
(updated)
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2010/20100905-1644.html
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The Whole Duty of Man.
(addendum)
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2012/20120906-0727.html
Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The Whole Duty of Man.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20201004-0915.html
John 17:3 - A Supreme Relationship with
Jesus Christ is Eternal Life.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2018/20180823-1030.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
Steps to Peace by Billy Graham:
https://stepstopeace.org/
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.revelationnow.com/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
