Source: Never Enough | Jeff Reinhart | Flatiron Church Channel: Flatiron Church Published: June 8, 2026 | Archived: June 11, 2026
Video: Never Enough | Jeff Reinhart | Flatiron Church
Channel: Flatiron Church
Published: June 8, 2026
Duration: 51:23
Views: 81
Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Video ID: Tuo3CsXZ3zM
Description
I'm so busy. Life comes by so quickly. What do I do with my life to make it meaningful, worthwhile, and pointful? Do I follow those around me, or dive right into culture? What's my purpose?
Join Flatiron Church and guest speaker Jeff Reinhart as we dive into this serious topic and understand what it means to follow God in all that we do, and not let even a hint of life slip by without purpose in His plan.
Follow God Closely Before Life Fades Quickly
Scripture References: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 Exodus 20:20-21 Philippians 2:12-14
Sermon Timeline: 0:00 Introduction and Guest Speaker 5:00 Overview of Ecclesiastes 7:07 Reading from Ecclesiastes 12 9:50 Two Types of People - Bitter or Better 14:00 What It Means to Truly Remember God 16:06 Everything Is Meaningless - Verse 8 19:28 Fear God - The First Practical 24:11 The Danger of Belittling Jesus 30:41 Obey God - The Second Practical 40:49 What We Will Stand Before Jesus and Answer
⛪️ A MESSAGE FROM FLATIRON CHURCH Hey! We're Flatiron Church in Queen Creek, AZ. There are a number of reasons why you might have landed here. This might be the start of your relationship with Jesus, or maybe you are coming back to Him for the first time in years. Maybe you've committed to strengthening your relationship with Him. Whatever your reason, there are a few simple steps you can take to move forward. Be humble and open to whatever God’s Word has for you. 🎯 NEXT STEPS Read more about our story at flatiron.church/our-storyMeet the team at flatiron.church/our-teamPlan Your Next Visit at flatiron.church/plan-your-visit 🙌 JOIN THE GENEROSITY Support the mission of Flatiron Church as we reach people far from God in the East Valley at flatiron.church/give ✅ FOLLOW US instagram.com/flatironchurchaz/https://facebook.com/flatironchurchaz #flatironchurch #goodnews #neverenough #family #kids #children
Transcript — YouTube panel (human-authored)
0:00 Well, good morning. How we doing? All right, that was better than the first service. How we doing? You doing well? I love it. Well, hey, uh it's good to be back. Uh I think I was here in November, but also uh I was here in the first year of your church getting started. And to see what God's done in this place is just incredible. It's phenomenal. And uh I believe the Holy Spirit is is is working and you're part of a move of God, but I believe that God is using your senior pastor, Brian, uh to build this place and to reach people for Jesus. And so if you love your pastor, could you just put your hands together and thank God for him this morning?
0:41 And like Brandon said, I've been a youth pastor now. I'm closing on seven years. And uh it's been amazing. I think I've seen God do some incredible things in youth, but uh they also love to bully me. They love to call me old, which is hilarious because I feel like I'm still young. And and if I'm old and they think I'm old, I don't know what that makes some of you in here. Kidding. But so they are kind of they are right in in some sense. I do sense myself getting a little bit older. One of the things that helped me realize that was a commercial.
1:15 Have you guys seen those Dr. Rick progressive commercials? The one where the guy teaches people not to turn into their parents? So, I saw that commercial. I realized I'm turning into my dad. There was a few things that he did that would drive me insane and and would bothered me. One of the things he, you know, he'd go to work and he'd come home after a long day and all he wanted to do was sit on the couch and just watch some TV and and recharge.
1:42 But with five kids, the TV remote was never in the the the same spot. So he'd get so frustrated. I remember I still remember his speech to this day. He'd be like, "Guys, it's not that hard. It takes three extra steps to go put the TV remote next to the TV." I knew I was going to get someone in here. People are feeling that on another level. The next thing that he did was he had a six sense with the thermostat. He knew anytime anyone touched the thermostat, my dad was present. And here's the problem, though, is that he would keep it at 80 degrees in the Arizona summer. And I shared I shared a room with my older brother in the like top of our house. We had a two-story. We were in the back corner. So, we faced the afternoon sun. And so, I remember falling asleep sweating. And there were times where I literally have to go to the bathroom, get some paper towels, and dap myself up, get back into bed, and it was like free air conditioning there, you know? But I'd go and good night, I
2:45 wanted to turn the air conditioning down just a little bit so I could fall asleep. I would touch it and my dad would be right there. Hey, I told you not to touch it. You know how it expensive it is to to, you know, fuel this house, so don't touch it. I'm like, Dad, geez. you know, and uh and then the last thing that that you know, I swore that I'd never do is, you know, with five kids in our family, the I swear the only vehicle that we owned was a minivan.
3:11 And I hated it. Like, can we get another car besides a minivan? And I remember even in high school, like telling my parents, I don't want to be seen in that loser cruiser. Drop me off around the corner and I'll walk in the blistering sun because I don't want to be seen in that thing. Right. Well, I became a dad and I have three girls and uh and uh I find myself when I get home from work and I walk into the living room, the remote isn't up by the TV. And so I give my give my girls that same speech that my dad gave me was, "Hey girls, uh please put the remote next to the TV. Okay, help dad out. He's had a long day." And then my wife during the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 pm loves to turn the air conditioning down. I'm going, "Babe, those are peak hours. Okay, we don't have the money for that. Don't touch the thermostat. Keep it at 82.
4:10 Come on, somebody. Saving money one degree at a time." And then we were shopping for a new vehicle and I remember um my wife and I were like, "Okay, we want to be SUV people." because SUV people are cool. And uh so we're, you know, we're shopping around and we weren't seeing anything and, you know, we looked at our budget and, you know, kept looking and how many of you know I stand here uh today as a proud owner of a minivan. Hello. It's the best car that I've ever owned. I'm telling you, there's like 12 cup holders in the first in the front two seats.
4:46 I I thought about it and I'm like, life happens fast, doesn't it? I quickly turned into my dad without even realizing it. And I think it's easy to come to a place where we're going, how did I end up here? And really, that's what we're going to talk about today. And Solomon's going to warn us of is how easy it is to drift, too. Drift spiritually to a place where we're going, how did I end up here? When did I get here? Because if we're not intentional in life, that can happen to each and every one of us where we wake up and go, and I'm not the person that, you know, God called me to be. and I'm placing other things at at the center of my life. And Solomon really today is going to warn us against that. And really throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, God has given him uh supernatural wisdom um to be able to put together God's truth in a way that helps us become more like Christ. But really his whole premise and how he's put together the book of Ecclesiastes is he's gone subject by subject through all the things uh that are under the sun,
5:47 right? all the things that we experience in life, you know, money, politics, work, all those things and saying, "Hey, if those things are at the center of your life, those things are your identity, uh, life's going to be meaningless because you can't take those things into eternity with you." And so, he really warns us again, hey, these good things when they become the God thing in your life, they actually become bad things. So don't don't build your foundation of your life on those things.
6:18 And so he goes through a number of different topics there and says what not to do. But today we're going to he's going to give us the answer in the last chapter of the book and tell us what is worth our pursuit. What should we be pursuing in life that actually is going to last and going to matter at the end of our lives? And so uh if you have your Bibles with me, you can turn with me to Ecclesiastes uh chapter 12. We're going to start in verse one. Give me a thumbs up if you've had some coffee today.
6:48 Give me a double thumbs up if you're on your second cup of coffee today. Oh man, I see you. Yeah, he was excited. Smile on his face, Bible out, notes ready to go. That's my guy right there. Special place in heaven for you guys that get make it to your second cup of coffee before 11. I'm just kidding. Okay. So, we're going to jump into um chapter 12 and we're going to start in verse one. There it says this. Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget. Everyone say forget.
7:19 Forget your creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow grow old and say life is not pleasant anymore. Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes and rainclouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs, the guards of your house start to tremble. And before your shoulders, the strong men stoop. Remember him before your teeth, your few remaining servants stop grinding. And before your eyes, the women looking through the window see dimly. Remember him before the door to life's opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Isn't that so true? As you grow older, you start waking up way earlier than you want to. So, I one thing I've realized about this passage, those chirping birds that he talks about, I've got three of them, my three girls in our household, and they love getting up at 5:00 a.m.
8:16 and start chirping in our bedroom. I'm like, yo, it's okay to sleep in. Okay, you are allowed to sleep in. says, "Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets. Before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom." As I look out here, I don't see a lot of almond tree blossoms. I see more bald heads. I'm just I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
8:42 You drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper. Anyone felt that felt seen walking into church this morning? Right. And it says this, "And the caper berry no longer inspires sexual desire, which is apparently a thing back then. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourers will weep at your funeral." Yes, remember your creator now while you were young, before the silver cord of life snaps in the golden bowl is broken.
9:11 Talking about this ancient lamp that wealthy people would have in their homes. Basically, we're connected to this gold chain. And if that gold chain breaks, the bowl smashes. And it's this idea that death comes on uh upon the the wealthy as it does the poor. It's no respector of persons. Says this, don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the poly is broken at the well, which uh water was an ancient picture of life. And so if you can't get any more water out of the well, basically your life is coming to a close. For then the dust will return to the earth and the spirit will return to God who gave it. So out of the gates, what is Solomon trying to get through to us? Because at face value, he kind of sounds like a party pooper, doesn't he?
9:54 It's like telling us all the things that are going to go wrong physically with us. But I don't think he says this to to depress us. But he says this to wake us up, tell us how fast life moves and and how easy it is to put off following God closely until later in life. Isn't that true? I have conversations with with youth that, you know, are getting ready for college and they tell me, "Hey, you know, Jeff, I you know, I do want to, you know, have a relationship with God at some point, but first I want to experience the college lifestyle.
10:28 I want to have a little bit of fun before, you know, I settle down and all that stuff, which oddly enough was a little bit of my story." And so, they push off following God. Well, then they get into their first jobs after college and they're working hard, right, to work themselves up within their company. But, you know, they're so busy that they forget to plug into the local church, right? They forget to surround themselves with other uh Bible believing Christians that are leading them closer to Christ and getting in the word. Why? Because they're so focused on their job.
10:59 Well, then they get married, right? And they have young kids and those young kids wake up at 5:00 a.m. And so the the time where I used to spend with the Lord, right, gets taken. And so it's so easy when you have little kids going, "Man, I'm just exhausted and I have no time." And so I'm not going to prioritize reading my Bible or praying. I'll I'll save that when the kids get a little bit older. And maybe some of you in here, you've started the business and the business is taking off and it's doing well and you're going, "Okay, you know, yes, God, I want to plug in to to the local church. I want to live for you. I want to serve others, but right now my focus and my priority is making sure that my business survives." So that's where my focus needs to be. But after that, that's when I'll start leading my family closer to Christ and living truly for you. And we keep pushing off God. And what we got to realize, I think a lot of us, we don't necessarily outright deny God, God, but
11:55 a lot of us in here, we delay him. And if we keep delaying God over and over, we begin to stray from him until we get to that point where you wake up one day and you got your almond tree blossom if you make it to that point. I've got youth that tell me that that's not going to be the case for me. I came back after paternity leave after having our third and one of our youth looked at me and goes, "Tell me why your hairline gets worse with every kid." I'm like, "Love you guys, too." like I missed you too, right?
12:30 And our your back starts hurting, your knees start to get you get older, right? Physically. And I don't think Solomon is just telling us the effects of what it looks like to get older, but he's telling us that actually as you age, you become someone. And and really he alludes to two types of people. There's people who forget God and get bitter. Did you see that? life is unpleasant anymore or life isn't pleasant anymore. And have you met some of these people?
13:00 They're older people that are just frustrated at life. They're angry. They're negative. They uh have relational tension with the people in their lives and they're just frustrated with how life has gone. They've got a callous heart. For some reason, I feel like I meet these people at the airport, you know, just mad at everything and mad that there's turbulence and their flight's taking off late. And I'm like, yo, people, hey, this is American Airlines. This is the Greyhound of the skies, right? Like, this is going to happen.
13:30 But I don't think any of us, you know, start out in life going, man, I want to be that bitter person. I want to be frustrated at life and the circumstances in my life and just have, you know, relational tension with people there. No one says, "Yeah, I want to be turn into that." But it happens when we're not intentional with our relationship with Christ. We slowly start to drift to this place where we become bitter. Bitter at God, bitter, bitter at the people in our lives and at our family. And I don't think any of us here want to be there.
14:00 But then Solomon talks about another type of person, someone who remembered God and got better. Have you met these people? As the older they get, they have Jesus at the center of their lives and they just begin to look like him more and more each day. Uh they're the most generous, kind, selfless people to be around. They're so encouraging and they truly live out the words of scripture and they're just amazing to be around, right? Like I think all of us in here, we would argue we go, "Man, I want to be that person." But some of us have walked in here today and you're realizing that you're bitter. You're frustrated.
14:39 You're upset. And you are that bitter person. And if that's you in here, I just want to encourage you. As long as you still have breath in your lungs, there is still hope for you. We serve in a big God that can redeem any life, give you a new heart, get put a new spirit in you, and take you on a new path to become better and more like him in Jesus name. But it doesn't just happen by default. It happens by design. And so really Solomon is going to give us a few things if we're going to become that better person that looks like Jesus and loves like him every day. He's going to give us a few things to focus on. And uh we we're going to pick up um in verse eight there. But I just want to give you before I jump back in, I just want to give you that definition of what it looks like to truly remember God um as we become the better person. Remember doesn't just mean think about God, right? All right, it's not just okay, you know, I'm mindful of him, but this is what remember means. It means to uh
15:40 pay attention to and consider with the intention of obeying. And so if we're going to become the better person, this is where it starts means remembering God, right? Paying attention to but with the intent of obeying, of putting him at the center of our lives, which I would argue this is what it looks like to walk with God closely. And so verse eight, uh, he's going to close us out and give us kind of some of those tools. This is what he says, everything is meaningless, says the teacher, completely meaningless, right?
16:13 Going back to the original concept of uh the book of Ecclesiastes, which everything under the sun, right? Work, money, politics, all these things, they're going to they're going to waste away, right? They're a vapor. We can't take that with us into eternity. And so that's what he's saying. Everything under the sun besides God is a vapor that eludes us. And then I love this in verse 9 as he closes it up, he kind of throws in a little author note and he pumps himself up a little bit. He says this, "Keep this in mind. The teacher was considered wise and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. The teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.
16:56 Kind of you ever heard anyone talk in third person before? I think I'm going to steal this tool, right? Like, man, that preacher up there, he brought the truth today. He organized the sermon in a way that was applicable to everyone. And they he made a true difference. It's like, okay, buddy, Andy's humble, too, right? Like, but I guess when you write the book, you can put that in there. But then he gives his motive of why he's written this book uh the book of Ecclesiastes. He says, "The words of the wise are like cattle prods, painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nailstudded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep. But my child, let me give you some further advice. Be careful for writing books is endless and much study wears you out. He's basically saying, "Hey, it's a good thing to to to gain more information about your faith and to to study Christian books and to listen
17:48 to those podcasts. Those are amazing things and we should pursue those things uh in seeking out more information of why we believe what we believe." But his point here is that if information just stays as information and never leads to transformation in Christ, it's a miss. You can have all the information in the world, you can outsmart people, but if your life is not aligning with uh the heart of God and the word of God, you're missing the point.
18:17 Information is good only if it drives transformation in Christ. only if your life begins to it leads you the the head knowledge begins to drop to your heart and it begins to to to to form you into the person of Jesus. And so don't forget because if you just stay in information, you're going to get worn out. It's just going to be that carousel and it's never going to lead you to action. And so he's saying when we truly have Jesus at the center and we truly focus on transformation, what that's going to look like as we study God's truth and the word uh uh that that comes from it, what's what that's going to happen. It's going to be like a nailstudded stick, right, with a shepherd drives a sheep.
18:55 Sometimes the truth hurts. The word of God sometimes hurts, but man is it helpful. Does it keep you on the path that God has for you, the path of everlasting life, right? The path of joy and peace. And so that's what we need to allow the truth of God's word to do. It's keep us on the right path, growing closer to God every day. And so that's what he's saying. That's the motive behind why he wrote these. But then he's going to land the plane here. And this is really the whole point of what we're trying to get at today. He's going to get us the practical to-dos of what it looks like to follow God closely before life fades quickly. Says in verse 13, that's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion. You ready for this?
19:37 Fear God and obey his commands for this is everyone's duty. He said, "Here's what's at stake. God will judge us for everything that we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." So, did you catch those? He's giving us those practical tools of what it looks like to truly follow God closely. And here's the first one is he tells us that we need to fear God. Fear him. Now, I don't know about you, but this whole idea of fearing God confused me for the longest time. Like, I never really understood that concept. And like, am I supposed to be afraid of God? Like, what is that? Like, that's what scriptur is commanding me to do. Well, one of the the best descriptions I found of what this concept of of fearing God comes from this author, John Bevere, where he says, "The fear of God isn't being afraid of God. It's being afraid of being away from God.
20:36 And that's the point, right? Fear of God isn't a scare tactic. It's an intimacy tactic. And so really, God, when he reveals himself to us, he's not trying to scare us away. He's actually trying to give us an accurate view of who he is. Because he knows we will not grow closer to to a God that we make up in our mind. we grow closer to who he actually is. And so really, there's this moment and actually throughout scripture, there's moments where God reveals his physical presence to his people, the fullness of who he is, not to scare those people away, but to actually show him his majesty and his greatness and his power. So they go, "Man, there is nothing like him." And so he is worthy of my pursuit, and so I'm actually going to draw near to him. And so we see this in the book of Exodus with uh the Israelites and um he rescued the the nation of Israel out of captivity and slavery in Egypt and
21:37 parted the Red Seas. And so they'd seen his hand at work, but he said, "You know what? I don't want it just to stay there. I want them to truly know me for for who I am." And so he sets it all up with Moses. He's like, "Hey, Moses, I want you to prepare the people because tomorrow I'm gonna come down on this mountain. I'm gonna show them my physical manifested presence. they're going to be able to experience that. And so he consecrates the people and, you know, they do the, you know, the sacrifices, all that stuff to get ready for him. And they set up a boundary for God to come down. And and so he preps him. Hey guys, stay, you know, his majesty and his holiness is so great.
22:12 Like don't go on the mountain or else it's going to wipe you out. So stay, you know, stay there, but he wants he wants you to experience him. And so God comes down and the people are terrified like, "Ah, Moses, you speak to us because if God speaks to us, we're going to die." And Moses is going, "Guys, you're missing the point. You're missing the point." And I just want to read Moses's response out of Exodus 20. He says this, "Don't be afraid, for God has come in this way to test you so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning." And as the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was. So at first glance, it almost sounds like Moses is talking out of both sides of his mouth, doesn't it? Says, "Don't be afraid." But then he says, "Actually, God's come to to to reveal himself so that the fear so you develop a fear of him that keeps you from sinning." He's differentiating between being afraid of God and standing
23:09 in awe of who God is. He's saying, "You need the second one. You you need to learn what it looks like to behold God because that's the whole point in him coming down is so that you would look at him and his greatness and his power and his majesty and you would stand in awe and worship who he is. Because when we do that, we develop a heart of reverence and awe and fear of God. What that does is that keeps us from walking into sin and worshiping the idols of this world.
23:40 It actually brings us closer to God because you go, "Man, I don't want anything to come in between my relationship with God because he's so good. He's the one true God. He is all powerful. And so I want to stay right by his side." This is what it looks like to behold him. And that's the whole point. But the problem with some of us in here is we've stopped beholding God. And when we stop beholding God and standing in awe of who he is, we actually start to belittle him. Because where the fear of God ends, foolishness begins. And so we actually take God's place in our lives and we start to make decisions based off what we think are right. Let me just give you an example of this. Have you guys seen these little Jesuses around?
24:24 They're everywhere, man. Saw one at In-N-Out the other day in the plant. I'm like, what's going on? Who's putting these out? Right. But it was funny. My my daughter is they got a hold of of little Jesus and they brought him home and they thought it was just so cute and they're like, "Oh, Jesus is amazing. Look at how cute he is, Dad. Little baby Jesus." And they would put him in their purse and carry him around and like, "I'm taking Jesus to the mall and all this stuff." And I'm like, "Oh, that's so cute." Then I thought about it more. I'm like, "You know what's not cute?
24:54 When we do this as adults, we actually treat Jesus the same way." Right? For some of us, the happy hour with our co-workers, we're like, "Oo, Jesus, I don't want you to hear this conversation because it could go south." So, I'm going to just go ahead and put you away here for a second. Don't worry, I'll break you out on Sunday. Or if you get brought up, I might, you know, break you back out for that conversation, but I kind of want you not to see that.
25:22 for others, right? Maybe that friend calls you and the friend that loves to gossip, but it never is labeled as gossip because it's always labeled under, oh, we need to pray for that person. And so, you get on that phone with that friend, you're like, "Oh, Jesus, I don't want you to hear some of this conversation, the way that we talk about that person, so I'm just going to go ahead and put you away until Sunday or until I need you." There's others you're having maybe some tension with your spouse at home, but you go to work and you have that one co-orker of the opposite sex that when you see them, they make you feel a certain kind of way and it feels good to talk with them. And you know, today you're like, you know what? I'm going to flirt with them a little bit. So Jesus, I'm going to just go ahead and put you away for now, but don't worry, I'll worship you on Sunday. I'll be back.
26:08 Maybe for others, right? You uh you're driving on the road, you got the flat iron bumper sticker, and someone cuts you off on the road. Like, I can't take that off, but I can put Jesus away for now. And so, you put them in, you're like, I got some choice words for that person. But how many of us do that on a regular basis? I know I'm guilty of it, too, where I actually start to belittle Jesus and he no longer is the authority in my life. He He's in the car, but he's actually in the back seat because I'm the one that's driving. One thing for a lot of us in here, we see Jesus as the side dish and not the main course.
26:49 We see Jesus as this lovesick boyfriend instead of the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. And if that's how you view Jesus or in here and you start to belittle him, you're going to welcome the chaos of the enemy in. You're gonna give territory in your life to him as he wres havoc in your life because you want control and you refuse to give it to him because you're belittling him. You have the wrong mindset of it and it actually doesn't draw you closer. It draws you farther away from him. And so we can't belittle God. We can't have that view of God in our mind. But the opposite is also true. Some of you have walked in here today and you feel like God is just this uh cosmic deity out in the sky and he's beyond you, that he's cold, that he doesn't care about what you're going through. And that also causes you to drift rather than to draw near. And so if maybe you're on one of the two sides and maybe you need a different view of
27:45 God leaving here today. And so how do we do that? Well, here's the beautiful thing. We don't have to guess who God is because he tells us who he is in his word. He defines who he is. So we don't have to go looking. And what's amazing when we read about the God of the scripture and who he truly is, we realize that he is the unccreated creator that spoke the universe into existence. He He parted seas. He defeated giants. He raised the dead to life. He defeated hell and the grave on your behalf. He is all powerful. He is the beginning and the end. And in scripture, he's known as an allconsuming fire.
28:25 That's who our God is. And when people have encountered him in scripture, Isaiah experienced the fullness of who he is and said, "Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips." Basically, I'm doomed. John the apostle that walked with Jesus saw him in in his fullness and he laid down on the ground as a dead man before the Lord. That's how majestic and holy and powerful he is. And yet he's a loving father.
28:55 He deeply cares about you. He pursues you in love. Even in your worst moments, Christ died for you. Christ loved you there. When you felt unlovable, when you felt too far gone for God, Jesus said, "I want that. I want them. I love them. I paid the price for them. That's how good he is. He's a loving father that welcomes us back in. And when we have an accurate view of who God is and we stand in awe, it changes everything about us and the way that we live our lives. I don't know what you're walking through.
29:31 I don't know what pain you're experiencing walking in this place, the grief, the loss. But if you get in this word and you realize who he is and how powerful he is, you stop telling God how big your mountains are and you you start telling your mountains how big your God is. You real realize, man, I can worship him in the midst of my pain because he is good. He's seeing me through. It doesn't make sense, but if I have that God on my side, who can be against me?
30:02 But we've got to be able to spend time, get in his presence. It's one of the things I just challenge you with. Whenever you spend time with God this week, whether it's on a hike in your backyard, in your living room with your coffee, I just challenge you, take 10 minutes just to think and meditate on who God is and how powerful and and and on his faithfulness and what he's brought you through. Maybe get in his word, right?
30:26 And just read the things that he's brought people through in in that book and just stand in awe of him. I'm telling you, it'll change the way that you go through your day and through your week. It'll change the way you walk through different situations because he's on his proper place in your life. Amen. The next thing here that Solomon says in following God closely before life fades quickly is we need to obey him because it starts with fearing him and then it continues with our obedience. Um Jesus says this, "If you love me, you'll obey me." That's what it looks like to follow God closely is our obedience. But some of us in here, I think we have the wrong idea of what obedience is. Some of us were raised in different religions or different backgrounds where uh getting closer to God look like, man, I've got to do a bunch of different spiritual rules and then maybe, just maybe, I'll appease God to where he'll finally love
31:22 me. And what it becomes is it becomes all about our works and our morality and trying to reach this certain standard so that God will finally love me. But that's the opposite of the gospel. Some of you have walked in here, you're so tired because you're trying to earn his love through your own morality, through your own works, trying to earn your own salvation. That's not how it works. The gospel is good news. Gospel tells us there is nothing that we could do to earn God's love. No matter how hard we try, no matter how righteous we think that we are, scripture tells us, man, we are hopelessly depraved. We were wicked without God. And actually, our righteous deeds were like filthy rags to him. And so Jesus, man, the beauty of the gospel is that g it wasn't about us earning our way to God. It's about God coming down to you, meeting you in your mess, putting a new heart and a new spirit in you. When you trust and you
32:21 surrender to him and his finished work on the cross and relying on his love, it changes every part of you. Scripture says, "The old has passed and the new has come. I've become a new person because of what Jesus has done in my life." And so, it's not obedience isn't about trying harder. It's about trusting God more. It's not about working for his love. It's about working from his love. It's a huge difference. Realizing, oh, he already loves me. He's already died for me. He already accepts me and made me a child of God and a masterpiece in him.
32:57 That's my identity. So, all I'm going to do is I'm just going to walk and I'm going to live in accordance with the identity that he has graced me with. So obedience is simply just responding to God's love of just going, "Hey God, I'm choosing your way today because your way is better. And I I trust that you don't want to just rob me of my fun, but you're actually trying to protect me."
33:23 The reason why he tells us to keep sex in the context of marriage isn't because he doesn't want you to have fun. He just doesn't want your soul to get damaged when you take it outside of it. for others. He tells us to forgive not because he's siding with the other person. He He He tells us to forgive because he doesn't want bitterness to hold you back from all that he's created you to do.
33:46 For for others, right? He doesn't just tell us to give because he wants something from you. He tells us to give and be generous be because he doesn't want greed to completely consume your life. And so maybe you're here today and you're going, "Okay, God, or okay, Jeff. I I I I get it, right? I get it. Like I I understand God's way is the best way for me, but it's hard." You ever feel that way?
34:13 It's so hard sometimes to do what God's called you to do. And here's the reality is that we can't live out a supernatural life in our natural ability. We need help. But the beauty of the gospel is when you receive Christ as Lord and Savior, he gives you his Holy Spirit on the inside of you. And the Holy Spirit's name literally is the helper or the advocate. He helps you live out the supernatural life. And so you have help today. I just want to encourage you to someone that you don't have to keep doing this on your own. Takes trusting and relying on God's spirit in you to do things that you never thought were possible. Let me give you an example of this. So, um, I've started to get back into shape and working out and everything. And by the way, I hate working out. I've never understood you people that are coming into the gym at 5:00 a.m. and leaving by 6:00 a.m. with your work bags. Okay? Like, you people are freaks, right? In the best way.
35:12 Like, I wish I was you. But that's not me. I hate working out. Never feel motivated to do it. But you know what was a game changer for me is when my brother-in-law became my workout partner. Because man, the times when I didn't feel like going, he would text me night before, "Hey bro, so excited tomorrow. Like, I got the workout all ready to go. All you have to do is just show up. We'll get after it together and it's going to be awesome." Like, speak for yourself.
35:37 But I started to show up and you know, there was mornings I didn't feel like it, but I just showed up and he was right there and he would help me through a workout. And what was crazy is over time, I never thought that I would get consistent at the gym, but because of his influence, I started getting more consistent. And what's crazy is that consistency turned into discipline. And I was like, man, we're actually consistent. Looks good. All the stuff is is getting a little bit easier, tiny bit. Everything hurts, but we're getting there. And over time, discipline turned into desire. I went, man, I'm actually I actually actually want to do this because I sleep better, I feel better, I have more energy, all this stuff. And so it turned into desire over time. And then finally, after a little bit of discipline and desire, it eventually gave birth to delight. I actually, this is so weird, I actually started enjoying working out while it was happening.
36:28 It's like, what? Never thought I could be this person. I might not be the gym bag person, but hey, I'm here, right? And I started enjoying it and I was like, man, this is awesome. Feel better. And a lot of it came down to because I had my brother-in-law as my workout partner. Well, let me just encourage you today. When it comes to your faith, the Holy Spirit is your workout partner.
36:51 Holy Spirit helps you create discipline that gives birth to desire. And then eventually you get to a point where you're going, man, I'm delighting in living the way that God has called me to live through his word. This is where life is truly at. The joy, the peace, the contentment that I experience by living God's way is amazing. And here's the cool thing is the Holy Spirit wakes up. Doesn't wake up, we wake up and meets us there when when we do wake up and goes, "Hey, are you ready for today?
37:16 It might be hard today. It might be challenging. You're going to have to trust me sometimes because you're not going to want to forgive that person or you're not going to want to have that attitude in that moment. But just continue to trust me. I'm with you. I'm going to help you. I'm going to walk with you so that you can continue to live for Jesus in every way. And one of I just want to encourage you.
37:35 One of the most encouraging verses that speaks to this is Philippians 2:12 and 13 says this. Work hard to show the results of your salvation. So there's our part. Obeying God with deep reverence and fear. Right? That's stand in awe of who God is. Have the right view of who he is. But check out verse 13. So encouraging. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
38:03 He gives you the ability. He gives you the power. And you're going, there's no way. I usually react out of anger in this situation. But today, I it was weird. I just paused and I just asked God, "God, would you come through? Would you help me with some patience in this situation?" And he showed up. I don't even know what happened. And that's what it's speaking to. As we continue to trust God and rely on him and invite his spirit in and spend time with him in his word, he begins to mold and shape us into a new person. So, let me ask you this today. Where is your uh where in your life are you out of alignment to God's word? Where are you not obeying God's word today? And what does that look like to invite him in and to trust him? Here's what I would challenge you to do. Maybe it's anger. Maybe it's something else. I I I challenge you.
38:54 Find the scripture that speaks to what you've been struggling with in obeying God. And I just I challenge you to put that on your lock screen on your mirror when you're getting ready. Have that with you throughout the day. So when you're tempted to step into that or outside of alignment uh to God's word, you just start praying, "God, would you help me live this verse out?" And he'll show up in ways that you never thought were possible. And so following God closely looks like fearing him, but it also looks like obeying him. But you won't do those two things if you don't truly know him. And here's what I mean by know him. I'm not just talking about you prayed a prayer once and now you're just living a life that's completely opposite from God's word. That you have this scripture in your Instagram bio, but you live your life however you want to live it. That's not in alignment with God. I'm talking about true placing true
39:49 faith. Placing God at the center of your life where he's he's not only your savior, but he's the authority. He calls the shots in your life. I'm not talking about perfection, but I'm talking about practicing and walking with him daily. Because when you truly know him, what you realize is that your life is accountable to him. And that's what it says right in this verse in 14, finishing up the book. It says, "God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." That's a sobering thought, right? It can either be a scary thought, right? If we're not truly walking with Jesus at the center of our lives, or it can actually be the most exciting thing possible, knowing that I get to stand in his presence, knowing I've lived for him. I wasn't perfect, but I just trusted and surrendered him. That can be a great thing when we meet him face to face. But what Solomon's trying to do, he's not trying to scare us, right? He's trying to wake us up. Kind of reminds me in college, um I I had to call my
40:49 parents and tell them I I failed a class. Now, this isn't my proudest moment because the last class I needed to graduate, which I failed, was ready for this online opera. I know it was online, too. But why did I fail online opera? It was supposed to be a really easy uh arts credit. Well, I just slacked off the entire semester. I didn't take it seriously. And then I got to this point where I failed the final and I failed the class and I had to call my parents who were graciously paying for college and I had to stand before them and tell them, "Hey, I failed opera." My mom was like, "You did what?" You know, she actually handled that moment way more gracefully than I probably would have. Right. But the reality was I even though my parents reacted in the best way, I felt disappointed that I had slacked off and I treated their free gift to me as worthless.
41:52 And Solomon's not wanting that moment to happen to us when we stand face to face with Jesus one day where we go, I live my life for me and not for you. And really there's two questions when we stand face to face with Jesus one day. The first one uh comes from the great white throne judgment in um in Revelation where really this this decides where we spend eternity. And here's the question. You ready for it? Did you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior truly? Because if you did, your sins are covered by the blood of his sacrifice and his atonement for that. And so when God looks at you, he sees you through the lens of Jesus finished work on the cross and you get to step into eternity with Jesus in the new heavens and the new earth for eternity.
42:42 But you got to accept him, truly accept him, place him at the center of your life. So that's the first one. But the all the the other side of it is true, too, that if you've never truly surrendered to Jesus, your sins aren't covered by the blood of of Jesus. and he gives us over to what we truly wanted, which was to be God, which means separated from a holy God for eternity. And so, knowing that reality, what does that change in your life?
43:10 And for some, this is your moment to truly accept Jesus and go, "Okay, I've just been playing this church thing, but today, God, I want to truly start walking with you." But maybe you've been here, you've been walking with Jesus for a while. Let me ask you this. How does that change your view of others? How many of us just go through our day and go to work and go to the offices and hang out with the people in our neighborhoods without any care in the world that they don't know Jesus?
43:35 What does that look like to start sharing your faith boldly to live in such a way that that you have people you God's using you your giftings and your abilities and your boldness and your testimony to go reach people who are perishing to bring them into the kingdom to have their lives changed forever. God's placed you in your workplace, your neighborhood for a reason. For for some of us, we're not taking that seriously. We need to wake up because here's the second question, the second uh question that Jesus is going to ask us. It's called the believer's judgment where it talks about how we'll spend eternity. And Jesus will examine our lives as believers and ask us the question, "What did you do with the life that I gave you, with your talent, with your time, with your treasure, with your testimony?
44:27 Do you did you use those things that I I gave you for yourself and to build your temporary kingdom? Or did you use those to build my eternal kingdom that doesn't fade away?" And for some of us, we need to wake up. God has given you the giftings and abilities and the resources to to go out and make disciples of all nations. It's time to step up and live boldly for him. Stop wasting our time on things that don't matter. Because here's the reality. At the end of our lives, what's not going to matter is the square footage of our home, our job position at work, how much money we had in our bank accounts, the vacations that we went on.
45:06 The only thing that's going to matter is how we lived our lives for Jesus. That's what life is about. That's what Solomon's trying to get here is saying, "Hey, those things that we make life about. They're they're temporary. Don't make don't live your life trying to achieve those things. Focus on what truly matters, which is eternity for Jesus, which is impacting the lives around you for him, sharing the love of Christ, forgiving and living in such a way where we stand before Jesus one day and he looks at us and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I don't know about you, but that's what I want to live for.
45:44 That's the experience that I want to have before Jesus one day. But again, it takes being intentional and truly placing Jesus at his proper place in our lives. One of the people that I I saw do this really well is I was at an event for our eighth graders a couple weeks ago. It's called the eighth grade dinner where we kind of send them off into high school season and celebrate them. And one of the uh volunteers that leads a middle school group, he'd been with his guys since they were in grade school walking with them. And it was his birthday on eighth grade dinner. And he was there hanging out with a bunch of middle schoolers. Like bold choice, right, for birthday plans. And it was s such a beautiful moment because they got him a cake and there was candles and we all got to sing happy birthday to him and he blew out his candles there. And I walked over to him and I don't even know why I asked this question. I just was
46:39 kind of joking around. I wanted to see his response. I said, "Hey man, what's your birthday wish this year? and he looked at me and he gave me way too serious of an answer. It was awesome. He looked at me and goes, "Jeff, actually, I don't have one." He said, "Here's why. God has given me everything that I could possibly ask for in life." He said, "I don't need anything else." He said, "There always going to be a bigger house. There's always going to be a nicer car. But life isn't about that.
47:13 those things don't satisfy. He said, ' Jesus has been so incredibly kind and just completely changed my heart. He goes, I used to be a negative person, just seeing the negative in every situation. He said it was a few years back where God just got a hold of my heart and challenged me just to live with gratitude and with joy. And he said from that moment on, it was just so cool just to see what God's done. But he just said, I just got I'm just grateful, Jeff. to stand here today just grateful for the life that God has given me, for the wife that he's given me, for the two boys that I've been able to raise.
47:44 And he said, "You know what? That's what it's about." He said, "I stand here today with my middle schoolers that I've walked with them for a third of their life and encouraging them to become more like Jesus, to experience them and help them on their faith journey." He goes, "That's what life's about." He said, "I don't know how much time I have left on this earth." He's an older guy. He said, "But with the time that God has given me, I want to prepare well. I want to live life to the fullest. I want to uh make a ripple effect in the lives of the people around me, starting with these eighth grade boys. I just want to model what it looks like to follow Jesus." That's what it's about, guys. That's what it looks like to follow God closely before life fades quickly.
48:32 to prioritize your life around Jesus and live from that point. Realize what's at stake and live accordingly. So I ask you today, what step do you need to take today to grow closer to Jesus? And for some of you, and I'm going to pray with you for in a second here, your first step is to truly place him on the throne of your life as Lord and Savior. Put him at the center of your life.
48:56 You've never given your life and surrendered it to Jesus. This is your moment. But for the rest of us, what does that look like? To fear and obey him and to live each day like it's your last, like you're going to meet him. And so, would you join me in prayer? And I'm just going to invite those if you've never placed your faith in Jesus before as Lord and Savior, you can simply pray this. Jesus, I've walked away. I've rebelled.
49:21 I've lived as God of my life. And today, I'm turning back to you, my heart, my soul, my mind. and I'm choosing you today. So Jesus, I believe that you are the way, the truth, and the life and the only one to a right relationship with God. Jesus, I believe that you died in my place and you've raised the life to give me life in you. And so you can just simply pray this. Jesus, I've give my life to you.
49:50 It's that simple. It's the beginning of a lifelong relationship with him. But it just starts with saying, "Jesus, believing in your heart. Jesus, I give my life to you." If you prayed that in here, would you be so bold and just shoot up your hands so I can see it? It's the best decision that you can make. Anyone else? Keep those hands high. I see you in the back. Amazing. Amazing.
50:16 Well, I'm going to pray for you guys and then I'm going to pray for the rest of us. But Jesus, I just thank you so much for those that have made that decision to follow you today as Lord and Savior, Lord, to receive forgiveness of sins and to become a new person in you. And so God, I just pray uh that he who began a good work in them would carry that on to completion. God, they would continue to grow and develop in you. And so Jesus, I just pray favor over their life, continue to work in and through them.
50:43 And God, I I just pray for the rest of us in here today. Lord, I pray that we would live with such a Holy Spirit boldness. God, we would be a light to this dark world. We would surrender to you, have the right view of you in our minds, Lord, learn to stand in awe of you every single day and then act in accordance of our identity that you've given us to trust you more each day in the areas that aren't in alignment with your word. And so, God, help us to go out and be a city on a hill and to reach people with the love of Christ to see their lives transformed forever. Lord, we love you. We praise you. And everyone said, "Amen." Amen. Amen.