Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.”  NASB

There have been movies and television productions about the “Living Dead” but what I’m talking about is the “Dead Living.”  The writer of Ecclesiastes in his nuggets of wisdom gives some incredibly good advice in this verse.  He tells us that if we opt to engage in an activity we should be totally committed to the objective. 

Jesus addressed that in the Book of Revelation as He spoke to one of the churches and said, “I would that you were hot or cold but because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.”  We often quote the first portion of the verse listed above but fail to include the latter portion. 

We are challenged to be fully committed to whatever we engage in and that is good, but I ask that you read the rest of the verse and notice the “for” that is there.  For or because it should get our attention and it tells us a reason to be fully committed in everything we do. 

If we embark on a project, activity, or ministry we are to be totally committed, because it is only as we are Alive that we can complete the task.  Once life has ended in the natural there is no more activity (on earth), no more planning, no more earthly knowledge, or wisdom.  This is our only shot at doing that which is before us whether it is accepting Christ as our Savior or completing an assignment.  We are to Live while we are Living! 

I have been around, known, and worked with people who I would call “Dead Living” because they were never committed and simply drifted from one crisis to the next.  They were lifeless and listless in their hearts, and no one could depend on them.  They had gone from fractured relationship to fractured relationship.  They had drifted from one job to another.  They had endured one dilemma to the next and from one uncompleted project to another.  Their lives were in constant drama and disarray.  They never found the Abundance of Life that Jesus said He came to bring.  They existed but could not be described as Living.  They were alive but not ALIVE!

Job said that “man that is born of woman is of few days and full of troubles.”  The Psalms tell us, “Many are the affliction of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”  None of us are exempt from difficulties but all of us have an open invitation to enter into Life in Abundance in Jesus. 

I like the saying, “You only go around once in life: Go for all the gusto you can.”  Someone changed that and said, “You only go around once in life, but if you do it right once is enough.”  That’s true in Jesus!  He has promised to go with us in every situation both good and bad.  He has promised to never leave or forsake us and has invited us to enter into His rest and draw from His strength.  He has given us authority and power over all the power of darkness.  He brings us Abundant Life, and, in that life, we can Live while we are living on this earth. 

Make life a joyous journey, not a drudgery.  Never succumb to the temptation to just drift along but rather “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…”  Learn to Live and in the process of living savor, every moment for you do not know what tomorrow holds.  Life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then it is gone in the natural.  We are not those who only live while on earth we are those who live for eternity.

God, bless you richly is my desire and prayer!