Originally published on April 29, 2024 as part of the Enjoy Life: From meaningless to meaningful series.
I’ve mentioned in past posts that I wasn’t raised in a Christian home. My father is, to this day, an atheist and my mom is, well just sort of lost. In my younger years, I would probably tell you I believed in God but I didn’t really know what that meant. God was the creator and He was still hanging around, I supposed. If I had died back then I would’ve had the same judgment as my father, I believe. Because just like my atheist father, I didn’t have God as the cornerstone of my life.
I hate to say it, but I talk to a lot of folks who seem to be in this same boat. They might even call themselves “Christian.” But dig a bit deeper and they don’t believe the basic tenets of the faith. Such as Jesus being fully man and fully God who died to cover our sins and make us righteous before God. Or that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Without these basic truths to help us navigate through life what’s to keep them from wandering off the path? To avoid a life of foolhardy behavior and thinking? To be led by foolish teachers and pastors?
“Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:1-2
Back in the ancient world of King Solomon, the right hand represented the place of honor and power. The left hand (sorry lefties) represented weakness and even rejection. In this introduction to chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon shines the light on our propensity to lean a bit too far into our personal temptations and sins. We give way to the left-hand side of life. Those sinful “flies in the ointment” create a life that looks a lot like one without knowing or trusting in God.
“Blessed is the man who has the God of Jacob for his Helper; he need not fear either want or pain, or death. The more you can realize this, the happier will you become; and the only means for so doing is to hold frequent communion with God in prayer. Get alone with Jesus, and He will comfort your hearts, and restore your weary souls.” Charles Spurgeon
Not only had I not put God as a cornerstone of my life I put so many other things and people there in His place. In Solomon’s words I put “fools in a high position” (Ecc 10:6). And wisdom? Let’s just say it wasn’t a top priority for me.
“The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.” Ecclesiastes 10:15
What a sad state to be in, as so many are today. Lost among well-travelled roads. Thinking they know the way to enjoying life to the fullest only to find themselves each morning back on the wrong side of a meaningful life.
I’ll make a confession to you. I started having sex when I was about 16 years old – sad to say that may be a bit old nowadays. By the time I met my future husband at age 22, I had been with more than 15 different men. The first few sexual relationships were ones I sometimes, still today, thank God that He didn’t allow me to become pregnant because I was also unprotected. During those years, something inside me knew what I was doing was wrong, but that didn’t stop me. I plowed ahead in my left-handed life.
Later, I even realized my behavior was born out of a need to seek love and acceptance. Instead, I usually received the exact opposite. Folly, folly, folly. And more wandering over the same roads.
My cornerstones, or my go-to experts, were like-minded travelers. Women’s liberation bullhorns, pro-abortionists, people who believed we deserved to do what we please, and others who scoffed at the religious right and their limiting “rules for life.” I was going to do what I wanted, with whom I wanted, and was going to be happy and successful.
Until I wasn’t.
As a person searching for a meaningful life, that younger me was bombarded by foolish rulers. College teachers who were all about living the life that was “true to yourself.” The people I worked with had no place for God and encouraged debauchery and folly. Even the pastor of the church, where I spent about 10 years as a new Christian, never talked about sin.
Now, as a Christ-centered Christian, it angers me that there are pastors who fall into these same categories. Their own lives and their teaching don’t reflect God as their cornerstone. They are ok with abortion – murdering the innocent. They are just fine with people having sex outside of marriage. With living immoral lives as long we know we are “loved” and “don’t judge.” They’re apparently reading from a different Bible than the one I have.
They are not leaders of the right-handed side of life. So when we consider whom or what we’ve made the cornerstone of our lives, we need to ask: Are they leading us toward wisdom, or simply taking us in circles along the same old paths?
Click here for Enjoying the Right Side of Life Part Two as we discover the path straight to love and joy.
