Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, October 9. In today's podcast, we continue the series showing us practical instruction on how to enjoy life. in life had become available to him.
He tried everything and finally concluded all through his. We marked some passages about the fact that man ought to enjoy his labor. He ought to enjoy life that God intends for him to. And so he says in verse 8 of the last chapter, He gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preachers sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished. All you students like this part.
Of making many books, there is no end and much study is the weariness of the flesh. Amen? Yeah. I know what you mean.
All right. Then he says, Let us hear the conclusion of this whole matter. He's been through all of what seems to be good and right and what would satisfy and ended up not satisfying. And he said, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, 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 is good or whether it be evil. What he's saying in this latter part that Solomon says, I've tried it all. I mean, he's tried everything imaginable.
You name it, and he's tried it. He said, I can have anything I want. I've built everything I could possibly build.
Go any place I want. Spend all I want. Nothing I can't buy. Nothing in existence that I can't have. He says, I've been through all of that.
I'm not going to be exposed whether it be good or whether it be evil. Now, you know, if we are wise, we'll just take what he says in these last two verses and save ourselves a whole lot of trouble. Because, you see, a lot of folks are going through the first of 11 chapters in the first part of the 12th chapter, trying to find out what in life really satisfies them and how do you enjoy life. And he says, man, I've done all of that. And he's done some things we couldn't do and haven't done because he's been through it all. He's tried it all and he's concluded. The conclusion is none of those things really satisfy the human heart. You don't really find enjoyment out of achieving everything, building all you want, having all the money.
You want all the pleasures, all the people, all the relationships, all the things that gratify the flesh. He says, when you put it all together, he says, just all one big empty hole. He says, because in essence, the whole matter is wrapped up in relationship to God and obeying him because that's the whole issue that's involved. Now, I could have said to you the very first night, here's having your life, read the Bible, pray, share your faith, do a few other things, and you wouldn't have heard me.
Because you've heard all of that. But instead, we talked about the fact that he divinely designed that you and I would enjoy and get fulfillment out of life. And we discussed that. And the fact of why we don't enjoy life.
And if you remember the things we talked about our pace, our pressure, and on down the line, we went over about seven things there. All of those things are self-imposed. And we live in a society, some of which we can't do anything about some of which we can. And I'm sure some of you sitting can say, yeah, but you don't know my circumstances. You don't know who I have to live with. You don't know how much money I make or you don't know where I came from. You don't know my background. You don't know all of these things. But you know, if you'll notice, none of those things really make the difference of whether we enjoy our life or not.
It's inside. Because you meet some people who are people who've had all kinds of tragedies in life. And they make us look like kindergarten children, the spiritual world, because they've learned to enjoy life in the circumstances in which they find themselves. And when Paul says I want to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself, that did not mean that Paul never tried to improve himself. But he said he had discovered there's some things in life you can't change. So what do you do?
You do one of two things. You learn to enjoy life when you cannot change it or you grow bitter and resentful and you die every day until God calls you. So I could have given you a few quotes of Scripture and some rote things that you and I know by heart. But I've tried to delve into some areas to make us think about ourselves and open our own heart about our life and to get honest with ourselves. That's what I'm looking for here. And you notice what he said in this 12th chapter? He said the preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written was upright and words of truth.
And he shared them. And that's what I want to share with you. All right, number one, that is you've got to discover God's purpose for your life.
I don't care how much money you've got. How beautiful your wife may be or how handsome your husband, care what you possess, where you've been, where you head in life, how many opportunities you have. If you don't find that out, you'll always be, listen, searching, looking a little bit further, always expecting that around the next corner, you're going to discover what it's all about in your life. So one of the smartest, wisest things you can do is make your number one pursuit in life beyond pursuing the Lord God himself is to ask, Lord, what is your purpose in my life? How do you want me to spend my life?
How do you want me to invest my life? And once you discover that, I think you've got part of the foundation. And let me say this, I'm approaching this from a Christian point of view, because the first step is always to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and commit your life to him.
That's got to be the foundation. There is no fulfillment in life apart from that. But having done that, building on that foundation of your faith in him, the next step is to find out what is God's purpose for my life. Now, I discovered that very early in life. And I understand that God doesn't work in everybody's life the same way.
But I can tell you this, he's just interested in your knowing his purpose for your life as he is for mine. And this is why I think we as parents before our children ever understand what it means when you need you need to start talking to your children about finding God's will for your life. So they when they grow up, they will never be able to recall when they first heard that. And you see, you don't start telling them that when they're teenagers, you start telling them about finding God's will for your life. Before they ever understand what that's all about. So they grow up under the sense of obligation that I've got to find out what God wants me to do with my life. Because it's that important.
The second thing is this. And that is commit yourself to live in the center of his will. Now, you won't always do it. But you need to come to some place in your life that you're going to make a commitment that when God shows me his purpose, my life, I'm committing myself to walk in his will. You're going to fall out of his will, you're going to stumble, you're going to fall flat on your face, you're gonna make a mess of some things, you're going to fail about some things, you're really going to blow it in some areas. But you see, if you commit yourself to live for him, what happens? When you stumble, God picks you up. When you take a wrong turn, he gets you back in his will. You see, you're never going to enjoy life until you have come to the place that you know, in spite of your failures, that your ultimate purpose is to discover his purpose. And to walk in his will day by day, there's something about settling that once and for all, I didn't say there's something about doing it for once and for all, but there's something about seven, that your purpose in life, whatever it is, God's shown you what that is. And your desire is to be committed to him and to walk in his will day by day. Now, I committed myself to him do that a long time ago, I've fallen out of his will, I've been out of his will in his will out of his will in his will. But deep in my heart, my heart's desire has been to walk in his will, and walk in his will. And once you settle that, listen, here's what happens. You eliminate that knowing that goes on in a person's life until they do.
That people who sit here every Sunday. So I'm coming down the aisle and they say, you know, I just know something's got to happen in my life. I know God's doing something in my life. And I want to be what God wants me to be.
But and they start all these buts. And I want to ask you this. Have you ever at any given time, as definitely as you said, yes, I will accept Jesus Christ as my purpose. My personal Savior from this moment on, I'm trusting him as my Savior. Have you ever as deliberately as that, that you can look back in your life and have said, Yes, I'm committing my life to walk in the center of God's will, as God shows me what it is, as God equips me to do it, as God empowers me and strengthens me to do it, my heart's desire is to live in the center of the will of God. Every person ought to make a commitment as definite to his will, even before you know what it is, as you did when you trusted him as your Savior.
Until you do, you get in the door, but you still play around with other things. God wants you to make a definite commitment. He says present your body, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him, which is your reasonable service.
He says stop being conformed to the world or pulled into the world's mold and formed by but be transformed with the renewing of your mind that you may prove by your life, what is the good, perfect and acceptable will of God. And what I'm asking you is there has there ever been a time when you said, Lord, it is my heart's desire, and I'm making a commitment to walk in the center of your will all the days of my life. Now, when you do that in salvation, you don't fall out of salvation. When you do that about a commitment to walk in his will, you're going to stumble and fall. But I'll tell you something, when God hears you make that commitment to him, I believe God puts all of his supernatural effort together, which is no problem with him to help you to stay in the confines of his will for your life.
Once you make that commitment, the third thing, I'm just going to hit this one and just pass because I mentioned it to you twice before. That is, you've got to keep a clear conscience. There is no way to enjoy life with a divided conscience.
What happens? Unclear conscience, a dirty conscience divides the mind drains the energy, you cannot concentrate on the thing at hand, you can never give your best in anything if you have a divided mind because your conscience is not clear. So I just want to hit that and keep passing number four. And that is to cultivate the spirit of gratitude. I don't believe that you're not ever be able to enjoy life until we cultivate the spirit of gratitude, which means that's something you're not going to have to work at in order to come to the place where we believe that God is really and truly working in our life and we are enjoying a Christian life. And as somebody has made the suggestion, don't ever get out of bed in the morning until you've thanked God for something.
There wouldn't that be a change at your house? If everybody in your house, nobody got out of bed till they thanked God for something, some folks might not get up till 10 o'clock in the morning. That's because they have a poor memory.
That's the only reason. Because you see, one of the first things you have to be thankful for is a good night's sleep. You see, what I've noticed in people who really are enjoying their life. What I've noticed about them is they're always expressing gratitude. You know what they express gratitude about? Little things, not just the big things, but little things. You see, gratitude over small things shows us sensitivity. Now I want to challenge you to do something.
I want to challenge you to commit yourself to God. That this week you will deliberately, personally, face to face, express gratitude to somebody every day of this week. Now listen, it may not even be something they've done for you. You see, that's real gratitude. When you can express thanks for something somebody has done for someone else and you're a third party, that's real gratitude.
All right, the next thing. Whatever you do, do your best. I've watched people who do shoddy work. And one of the interesting things I've noticed is they're not happy people. People who do shoddy, sloppy work, who are slothful in whatever they do, they're not happy.
He says in this very book, for example, he says, whatever you find to do, verse 10 of chapter nine, whatsoever thy hand find it to do, do it with all thy might. Now listen, you show me a person who attempts to do well what they do. Let me tell you something. They may not even like the job. And I've watched this in people. People who may have a job and you see them doing a good job and you say, you know, you're gonna do a super job and say, well, maybe so, but I don't like this. But what I've noticed sometimes if a person gets in a position they didn't ask for, and they don't like, and maybe it's one of those things that God puts them in to sand them down and work them down a little bit on their way to somewhere else.
If they do their job, if they do a good job of it, what I've noticed is they're still able to enjoy life even though they're going through a little valley they don't like. Now, you know, the best, you know, the best way to get out of the valley is keep your attitude right in there because God's trying to do something. And when God puts you in a short valley, maybe your vocation or some area of schooling that you don't particularly like and you don't like this semester, you get into classes you like you got all odd hours, all the professors are all quacks, you don't like anything about it.
And let me tell you something. If you moan and groan all semester long, it'll take you twice as much energy. But if you give it your best, you see, here's what I'm saying.
Enjoying life does not have to do with my circumstances. It has to do with my attitude. That's where it all boils down to.
So whatever you do, do your best. You know, when I had to sweep and I used to have to clean up and do a lot of things that I should have done, I'm sure. And we had a linoleum rug. And if I got in a hurry, I'd sweep it all up on the corner and raise that thing up and sweep it right under that corner just like that.
And then what I would try to do is I'd try to get back and get it out from under there before my mom came home. Sometimes I got caught. Sometimes I didn't.
I look back and see I was taking a shortcut that never works. When you do your best, there's something about that. You just enjoy life. And when you're not doing your best, you won't enjoy it. I don't care what you're doing, you will not enjoy your life if you don't do your best. So sometimes you may just have to buckle down and work at it, but do your best. The next thing is concentrate on what you're doing right now. Now, I said this before in some form or the other, but we mentioned the fact that people who get so preoccupied with the future and preoccupied with their work, but something about concentrating on the right now.
And the best example that you can practice is this. When you read the Bible, don't think about anything else. Ask God to help you learn to discipline your life to think only about what you're reading. Again, when you pray, think only about what you're talking to God about. So pray out loud if you can't pray and keep your mind on what you're talking about and pray silently. When you're studying, don't think about your date.
Right? Divide your mind. You can't enjoy your studies. Think about her.
Study first, then think about her. Because it takes us a lot longer to do two things at one time than to do one thing at one time. And you know what I noticed about Jesus? When you read the Gospels and think that he was an emotional man, he was God. But I think one of the things that Jesus had was the tremendous power to concentrate on whatever was going on at the moment.
I believe Jesus' mind was riveted to that thing. And I think if you'll notice people who enjoy life, they somehow are able to zero in on one thing, shut out everything else for the moment, and either work at that and get it done, or in the same way, they're able to enjoy what they're doing. And many times have I taken a day off and said, well, I'm going to enjoy today. And all day long, I'm planning for tomorrow next week, what I'm going to preach Sunday, what I did yesterday.
That's no vacation. And you see, you can't enjoy life always hung up on tomorrow and yesterday. The enjoyment of life demands we learn to concentrate. And you see, we as parents need to teach our children how to concentrate on the right now.
Because when they get out in life, they're going to be pulled in many directions, concentrate on what am I doing at this moment right now, the next thing. And that is you must learn to forgive yourself. If you don't learn to forgive yourself, you never enjoy life.
And we talked about letting those things in the past hang on and breed guilt in our life. But you must learn to forgive yourself. Now, listen, that has nothing to do with what other people forgive you or not. You know, God's going to forgive you. But can you forgive yourself? You'll never be able to enjoy life until you're able to say, Lord, I want to thank you for forgiving me.
Will they forgive me or not? I can't worry about that. But I'm going to forgive myself.
Why? For the simple reason that, listen, whatever God has forgiven me for. He does not intend for me to scold myself about another time.
Let me ask you this. Is one of the reasons you're not enjoying life because you keep being haunted by something back there. That you can't deal with. You just got to face it squarely and just tell the Lord, Lord, I want to thank you for forgiving me. And tonight, in Jesus name, I forgive myself. You say, I'm not too sure I can do that. Remember that it's an act of the will.
It's the thought of the mind, not that you can't. You see, here's what happens when he says that he has forgiven me. Listen, when God has forgiven, that's nothing to do with my emotions. If God says I'm forgiven, what I feel like and that I'm forgiven. God, I want to forgive myself because you have forgiven me.
I am forgiven. I need to leave my emotions back here and act upon my will. Faith is an act of the will. It's not just an emotional thing. In fact, it's it's an act of the will before it's an emotional thing. If you can't forgive yourself for mistakes, for making blunders, for sinning against God, for hurting other people. If you cannot experience forgiveness and forgive yourself and you can't forgive others, you'll never enjoy life. I'll tell you, one of the saddest groups of people I know are the folks who are living with bitterness and animosity and resentment and hostility in their life toward other people. And so often back there somewhere that's still holding on to one little root. It's a little small root of bitterness back there.
Somebody hurt them and they just can't get over that. You can enjoy life with a rule of anything that you cannot forgive and even forgiving yourself. Thank you for listening to today's podcast titled How to Enjoy Life. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
