Do not trust in the way you feel because that will change; moods change quickly, and will so long as you live, sometimes against your will (Job 14:2). One minute you’re joyous, and the next sad. First you’re sullen and the agitated. The next thing you know, you feel devout, even holy. Soon, you feel like the world’s biggest sinner. From energetic to listless. From morbid to jovial. 

He who is Wise in the Holy Spirit does not allow mood or feelings to destroy his faith. Jesus did not die on the cross and destroy sin and death so that you and I could be in a good mood. Our moods will change. His love for us will never change. 

Thomas à Kemp is, The Imitation of Christ. From  “Inconstancy of Heart and Final Intention,” paraphrased. 

A friend calls this prayer the most beautiful passage in the Bible. I agree.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17:20-23 NKJV

One out of two people in the world, statistics prove, will face cancer. All of us will face death. So, I’m nothing special. How we face it – life, death, cancer, or any life-threatening challenge is what makes us special. Our approach to life’s challenges is as varied as our fingerprints. 

I decided to write when I faced one cancer after another. More specifically, I decided to write about spiritual matters, in hopes that it would bring me closer to Jesus Christ. I soon discovered that it was in vain. I was no closer to Christ than I had been before picking up a pen. 

I wrote a book about imitating Christ. It didn’t matter. I was no more like Jesus than before. I wrote a blog, this blog. Still, I worked in vain. I began an intensive Bible study, some of the deepest, most thoroughly researched material I had ever presented to a class of mature Christians. I had become nothing more than a well-educated, struggling sinner. 

I decided, like Solomon, that everything I did was in vain. Nothing matters. Not work. Not play. Not life. Not death. Nothing… Nothing we can do matters. Who He is… That’s what matters. Our relationship with God matters.

Here’s the way King Solomon said it:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 

Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV