A few weeks ago in the UK we had council elections where all the candidates were putting themselves forward for political office. A week later, the Prime Minister announced that he would be leaving office on June 27th. He was elected almost 10 years ago with high expectations, as usually happens with any change of leader, but now his place will be taken by another who will last only so long. The same is true for all those councilors elected in the May local elections. They have a short shelf life in their political office.
Likewise, football managers rarely last more than a few short years and managers in industry move around. Wherever you look, the shelf life in these highly paid jobs is but for a moment. And yet, so many strive for them. The perceived glamour of celebrity and position allied to wealth is a heady mix for so many who never give their Creator a passing thought. It’s all for now, and the future will take care of itself.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, much is written that we should take note of. “… Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from his labor In which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-4).
We have been called to have a full time career in Christianity that will last until our dying breath. There must be no shelf life for true Christians in this mortal life as we grow and overcome and press towards the Kingdom of God. As Christians called by God, our shelf life is to be eternity, not just a fleeting few years.
Ecclesiastes has this admonition right at the end of the book, in chapter 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is the whole duty of man.”
