Every man’s duty

Every man must know that he is only a breath, no matter how well he tries to hold it, says the Holy Scriptures. It is imperative that each of us know this truth. Especially since we tend to believe that any material thing or social position could somehow guarantee us protection. One young man received such advice: ”The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NASB)

Our duty, no matter where we are, is to fear the Lord and keep His commandments. Not because God would not respect our rights, but because God wants the ultimate good for us, He wants you and I to live beautifully and meaningfully on this earth. Life is more than going to work and earning a living. Fearing the Lord in no way means walking in fear that at any second you may be punished. The fear of God is a strong desire not to upset my Creator. I do not want to hurt Him, knowing that He paid all my debts to me through the Lord Jesus. If each of us took this commitment in the most serious way, many of the bad things we see around us would certainly not happen again.

Knowing that God will bring every deed to judgment, and especially that judgment will be made with privilege on all that is hidden, whether good or bad, how should my daily walk be? How should my daily thinking be? We will never be able to hide anything from God, no matter what great masters we may pretend to be at hiding our iniquities. I do not understand why people, knowing this truth, choose to live in iniquity, lies, and cunning? I sit and think of the day when each of us will “appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his reward for good or evil, which he did when he was in the flesh.” 

How will we look to God? Then no excuses will work. Because today you know how to do good and you do not do it, you are committing a sin. And if you still know today that it’s an emergency to reconcile with God and you don’t, you keep postponing and saying that you still have time, in fact you are sorely mistaken. Tomorrow is not in our hands. Let us not despise the riches of God’s goodness and long-suffering. It is this goodness and the fact that we are still alive that urges us to repent of our evil deeds and enter into a real relationship with God. It is also our duty to keep His commandments. You can’t keep something you don’t know. That is why we have the Holy Scriptures to study so that we know how and what to keep. The human intellect is limited, no matter how grandiose man’s plans and achievements may be. If we try to build our lives by following rules, customs, or traditions that we have formed for ourselves, we will only stray from God. We have the Holy Scriptures in full, but fewer and fewer want to study it in a disciplined way, we live in an age of opportunity, but at the same time the image of this age has blinded us and takes us away from the duty we have, namely to keep His commandments and walk in the light. God respects our choices, but let’s not forget that we will report for every decision we make, for every action, and for every intention.

Translated by Liza Bîrlădeanu