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\u201cFor God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil\u201d (Ecclesiastes 12:14).<\/p>\n
THE LAST VERSE IN ECCLESIASTES GIVES US THE REASON WHY WE SHOULD FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. Reverence and obedience must define the way we live because \u201cGod will bring every deed into judgment.\u201d All that we do is going to be tested, not by the trial of any human evaluation, but by the judgment of God Himself. Not wanting to deal with it, we may pretend this testing won\u2019t come, but we will be tried by it nevertheless.<\/p>\n
It is not just some of our deeds, but \u201cevery deed\u201d that will be brought into judgment by God. Even \u201cevery secret thing\u201d will be judged by Him. \u201cNo creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account\u201d (Hebrews 4:13). This truth should jolt us. We may present to other human beings only what we want them to know, but God knows even the most secret contents of our hearts.<\/p>\n
Our deeds will be judged \u201cwhether good or evil.\u201d Just as we may temporarily deny God\u2019s judgment itself, we may also deny the existence of objective right and wrong, but our denial doesn\u2019t make it go away (any more than closing the blinds makes the sun go away). There is an eternal, unalterable difference between good and evil, and it has its origin in God\u2019s own character.<\/p>\n
Because He is our Creator, God has a right to bring us into judgment. Having given us life and a free will, He will hold us accountable for the use of our freedom of choice between good and evil. Think of it in terms of \u201cstewardship.\u201d Having been entrusted with great gifts, we will answer for our faithfulness in using them. Surely it is the right of the Giver to conduct such a reckoning.<\/p>\n
At the final judgment, and even before, we won\u2019t be able to hide from that which Thomas Merton called \u201cthe implacable light of judgment.\u201d Apart from the forgiveness of God, which is what the gospel of Christ is about, none of us has any hope at the judgment. But if we won\u2019t face reality, not even the gospel can help us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need is not a false peace which enables us to evade the implacable light of judgment, but the grace courageously to accept the bitter truth that is revealed to us; to abandon our inertia, our egotism and submit entirely to the demands of the Spirit\u201d (Thomas Merton).<\/p>\n
Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n