“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get next.”

Forrest Gump viewed life like a box of chocolate candy – the kind you might get at Christmas time. When you first lift the lid, the candies look similar, but inside, each one is a mystery. It might have chocolate mousse, or coconut crème, or my personal favorite, caramel and nuts. Just as every chocolate is a surprise, so life always seems to bring some new, unexpected twist.

Solomon, King of Israel in the 9th century BC, agreed with this assessment, but took it one step further. In his experience, life was like a box of chocolates, and every one had a bitter aftertaste.

The king chased one pursuit after another. He tried money, sex, power, wine, music, horseback riding, and every other human delight. He also experienced sadness, sickness, betrayal, corruption, death of loved ones, injustice, and loss. Whether pleasure or pain, every new “chocolate” just left the same bitter aftertaste.

“Vanity of vanities!” He cried in exasperation. “All is vanity … All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 8-9).

This is Solomon’s impression from a strictly human perspective. Apart from God, life doesn’t make sense. It has a shortness and cruelty that is often inexplicable.

Pretty bleak, isn’t it? Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. In the last chapter of his memoir, he discovers the secret of life. “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).

Solomon’s advice is simple. The key to happiness is living every day in the presence of our Creator. We’re not supposed to make sense of every tragedy or anticipate God’s next move. We’re just called to walk with him, one day at a time, enjoying the little things of life and obeying him because we will soon stand before him in judgment.

As the old children’s song says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”

In this life, some chocolates are sweeter than others. But every one of them is designed to draw us closer to God.

This article first appeared in Wednesday’s “Minister’s Message” of our local newspaper, The Hi Desert Star.

Many Christians recognize today as “Ash Wednesday,” the beginning of Lent on the traditional Christian Calendar.

As a Baptist, I didn’t grow up observing Lent and we don’t make a big deal about it at the church today, but its origin and emphasis are instructive. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church explains,

LENT (Old English Lencten, German Lenz, \’spring,\’) … The period of forty days\’ fasting before Easter. One or two days of fasting in preparation for Easter is attested by Irenaeus in the third century, but the earliest reference to a period of forty days (Greek) as the name for Lent occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicea (325). \’Forty\’ no doubt was suggested by the forty days\’ fast of Jesus, while the fast itself may have been originally part of the preparation of candidates for baptism on Easter night…\n\n…Penitence is another ancient aspect of Lent, deriving from the practice of publicly excluding penitents from Communion at the beginning of Lent and their public reconciliation on Maundy Thursday … Roman Catholics now usually keep only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday as fast days, but Lent remains a time of penitence.

Penitence (or repentance) is a major theme of Lent, so it’s no wonder many Christian lectionaries include Psalm 51 in today’s reading.

Psalm 51 is the mother lode of repentance. Like a gold mine, the deeper you dig, the more treasure you discover. And the further you plunge into human depravity, the more you appreciate God\’s abundant grace.

Following King David\’s disgraceful adultery and murderous cover-up (see 2 Samuel 11-12), David cries, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1).

Notice the basis of forgiveness. David does not say,

“Hey, this was only my first offense.”

(or) “At least I\’m not as bad as that person over there.”

(or) “It could have been worse.”

(or) “Just look at all the good I’ve done.”

(or) “It’s not my fault. I was born this way.”

Rather, David admits his sin and appeals to the only source of true forgiveness – God’s mercy. We never find forgiveness by downplaying our sin or comparing ourselves with others. It is only when we confess our sin and fully recognize its offense against God that He sweeps in with grace and washes our hearts clean.

As Paul Tripp writes,

“I come to the Lord with only one appeal, his mercy. I’ve no other defense. I’ve no other standing. I’ve no other hope … I leave the courtroom of my own defense, I come out of hiding, and I admit who I am. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve been personally and eternally blessed. Because of what Jesus did, God looks on me with mercy. It’s my only appeal; it’s the only source of my hope; it’s my life. Mercy, mercy me!” (Whiter than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, p. 22).