Gò0dNews from the Pastor’s Desk
Keeping Our End in Mind
“S
by David Beckmann
o teach us to number our days, that we may
people look at the message of Ecclesiastes as “everything
apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
in this life is vain” and therefore point to the epilogue as
As we are in that time of year when we
the only really helpful thing about it. Gibson does a good
celebrate Easter, we read passages when Jesus said that
job of explaining how Solomon shows that facing the
His hour to glorify the Father had come. He knew that His
inevitability of our death puts life into perspective. He then
earthly ministry was coming to an end, and it was time
goes on to refer to the things that are really important—
to finish things up—indeed, it was time to do the most
especially that we fulfill God’s purpose for us by enjoying
important things He had come to do.
the good He has made for His glory. Gibson writes, “This is the main message of Ecclesiastes in a nutshell: life in God’s world is gift, not gain” (p. 37). Taking our death into consideration as we live in the present breaks the spell the world has on us and enables us to be wise and see life the way God sees it. Interestingly, this is the same kind of approach taken by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy in their book Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want (Baker, 2016). “Backwards” or “forwards,” their main approach to priorities is Solomon’s. They want you to start your life planning by writing your epitaph! Remembering that we are going to die helps us consider what is important for
Do we pastors sometimes wish we knew when our time will run out? Perhaps, we think it might help us
us to be and do in the time we have left. In 1856, the famous French preacher, Adolph Monod,
focus or prioritize better. Being close to my “threescore
while he lay dying, said, “God alone has the right to decide
years and ten” (Psalm 90:10), I know my days are running
when the work He wants to do through us is finished. It
short. When you are young, you think you have forever—
may be very imperfect and incomplete in the eyes of man;
though you never know! But when you get older, the
but if we are upright before Him, He will not allow our
day of your death starts to be “a thing.” While the world
life finally to end without leaving some traces upon earth.”
would have us not think of the day of our death, I find it
Your labor in the Lord, fellow pastor, is not “all vanity.” Be
helpful. Indeed, we know it’s biblical to keep it in view.
wise about it and rejoice in it.
I was just introduced to the book by David Gibson, on Ecclesiastes. D. A. Carson says it’s one of the best of the new books that have come out about Ecclesiastes. Often,
6 // April 2022
About The Author
entitled Living Life Backward. It’s a devotional commentary The Rev. David Beckmann is an Anglican priest and Moderator of the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. Recently, he was director of the C. S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns, Oxford, UK. He blogs at revbeckmann.com.
