Life is half spent before we know what it is. George Herbert

This quote by some guy who lived about 500 years ago is just one of the many lessons that I wish I had learned much earlier in my life. Another is this:

A great deal of life is spent doing things one does not want to do, often with people one does not even like. A wise man will learn this truth and avoid wasting time in such unpleasant pursuits.

I shudder to think of the time I have wasted through the years in such vain endeavors. I'm not talking about the time I've spent doing hard work or eating vegetables or going to school - we all have things to do that we don't like, but which are necessary all the same. What I'm talking about are the unnecessary things that are also detrimental - like the times we've hung out with people that we shouldn't have been with doing things we shouldn't have been doing.

I'm convinced that the sooner we learn this truth, the sooner we can get on with enjoying the life that God created us for. While it would be nice for life to come equipped with a reset button so that we could just eliminate all of the really stupid things we have done in the past, the next best thing is to just start doing the things that God wanted us to do in the first place. Then we can get on with pursuing those things that are truly worthwhile - hopefully before the last half of our lives are gone.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8, NIV

These are the best of times. Styx

I have wonderful memories of the "good old days" as I grew up with a privileged childhood. Not that we had lots of money but we were middle class in America in the sixties and, in the history of the world, that's pretty rich. The richest things of all that I have from those days are my memories of growing up in a suburb of Seattle. I remember all of us kids splashing through the rain in black goulashes and yellow raincoats on our way to Benjamin Franklin Elementary School.

As I recall, I carried a spiffy Lost In Space lunch box with a genuine insulated glass thermos. I took swimming lessons in Lake Washington, road on a ferry boat to Canada, collected seashells on the shores of the Pacific, and rode an elevator to the top of the Space Needle. It was cool, cool, cool.

My summer days were spent in a neighborhood filled with kids. We would go from house to house with our baseball bats and mitts until we had enough kids for a game. Then we played outside all day because we had only four channels on our inside black and white televisions, (not to mention having no air conditioning and no electronic games). Besides, my Mom and the other kids' moms didn't want us lying around the house all day anyway. So we played outside for hours on end, blissfully unaware of the ultraviolet radiation from that dangerous, dangerous sunshine.

But, as good as those times were, they were not the best thing about those good old days. The best was that my Mom and Dad were Christians. They forced us to go to Sunday worship (twice!), plus Sunday School and Wednesday night prayer meeting EVERY SINGLE WEEK! Mom read to us from a Bible story book and listened to our prayers every night. And, we grew up safe and secure in the knowledge that God and Jesus loved us.

I didn't know it then, but I know it now: I was the richest kid in the world. And, the really neat thing is that now I am even richer because I have a wonderful Christian wife and three beautiful Christian kids whom we forced to go to Sunday worship (twice!) plus Sunday School and Wednesday night Bible classes. And we read to them from the Bible and said our prayers together each night before we went to bed. 

And, I realize now that these really are the best of times. How about you? If you have missed out on the good old days of the past, then why not do something about the rest of your days? You can, you know, if you choose to.

Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:19-20, NIV

Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures. Thomas Aquinas

One of the vital lessons that must be learned at a young age is the understanding that true happiness cannot be found in worldly pursuits. This contradicts everything that we are told, from the enticements of the party life when we are teens to the keeping up with the Jones' when we are a bit older.

From our peers to television advertisers to Hollywood, we are taught that happiness is found in pursuit of physical pleasures. But drunkenness leads to hangovers and addiction, illicit relationships lead to disease and guilt and unwanted pregnancies, and greed just leads to envy and covetousness and dissatisfaction with what we do have.

Why is that? It's because God did not set up His world to yield joy for those who sow evil, anymore than He set up His world to yield corn for those who sow wheat. God created us, he created this world and he created the only path to true and lasting joy. There are no shortcuts, no better ways and no exceptions.

Joy can only be found in God and Christ.

One of the strangest character studies in the Bible is that of King Solomon. He was given the gift of wisdom by God, so he knew that true joy was available only to the obedient. But he decided that he would find out what was worthwhile in life. He tried drunkenness, many wives, and the heaping up of wealth. Do you know what he found? In his own words, he found that pursuit of physical pleasures was "meaningless".

The fact is that much of our lives are consumed by these meaningless pursuits. For those who try the worldly route, there is sorrow and pain and depression and addiction. But, for those whose focus is squarely on Christ, there is joy. Joy does not mean we are immune to the sorrows inflicted on us by those who would pursue worldly pleasures, but it does mean peace of mind and a quietness of spirit.

God wants us to be happy and He has carefully revealed the exact path to that joy. The question for us is will we take the one path to true joy, or will we insist on the alternate path that is filled with sorrow? The answer to that question will be the difference between a nightmarish existence and a fulfilling life that most only dream about.

This only I have found: God made man upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes. Ecclesiastes 7:29, NIV

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. King Solomon

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 

These two passages contain the key to the life of accomplishment that most people want. In the first, King Solomon points out that enthusiasm without understanding is not to be desired. To understand why, let us consider for a moment the lowly lemming. The lemming has oodles of enthusiasm: Just put him and a million or so of his buddies behind another lemming, and they will all follow the leader - and with a great deal of fervor. However, lemmings seem to have a void when it comes to discernment, so they will not only follow the head lemming to tasty lemming food, but also over the edge of a cliff. It is not good to have zeal without knowledge.

In the second passage, James points out the worthlessness of knowledge without action. Consider the child who can sit right next to a ringing phone, but never seems quite able to answer it  - especially if it's your child and your hands are full. You and I might say something clever to the child such as, "The phone is ringing", to which he or she might respond, "I know". They are missing not only the point, but also the zeal needed to act. (It is the parent's duty to view this as a "teachable moment" and supply the proper motivation for the desired zeal.)

It is only when we combine these two ingredients (zeal and knowledge) that our lives can become what God intended. It is this combination of zeal and knowledge that makes effective corporate executives, all-state athletes and straight A students. More importantly, it is this joining of understanding and enthusiasm that makes for great husbands and wives, great parents and children and, especially, great disciples.

Too many people look at examples like this and think that it will not work for them. While it is true that there are a few things out of our reach, (I've about given up on my dream to be the starting center for the Boston Celtics) it's also true that we can accomplish anything that God wants us to. And, just as one part of hydrogen properly combined with two parts of oxygen will produce water every time, when we properly combine zeal with knowledge, we will have success every time. So, what is it that you could accomplish with the right amount of zeal and knowledge?

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good... Galatians 4:18, NIV