3565.) Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12   (New Living Translation)

Ecclesiastes is a bright book of life. It is bright precisely in its dazzling darkness. It is a book of life precisely because it honestly and nakedly confronts the fact of death. It is a great, great book because it explores, deeply and uncompromisingly, a great, great question:  What are our lives here under the sun for?

That is the greatest question in the world. The only greater book than this would have to be a book that gave the greatest answer in the world — another book from Solomon, the Song of Songs.  The philosopher asks the question, but the lover answers it.  The head thinks, but the heart sings.

–Peter Kreeft, Three Philosophies of Life

We are just finishing reading Ecclesiastes. Coming up next — the Song of Solomon!

¹ Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”

² Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.

³ 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 windows—see dimly.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

⁶ Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. ⁷ For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “We Will Remember” by Tommy Walker and friends.

_________________________

Concluding Thoughts about the Teacher

⁸“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.” ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

¹² But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

“A Girl Reading” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1890 (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”

–Louisa May Alcott

¹³ That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. ¹⁴ God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

 “This is how the book will end.
On this rock we can be destroyed; but it is rock, not quicksand.
There is the chance to build.” 

–Derek Kidner

1 Corinthians 15:54 and 58 (Good News Translation)

So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true:
         Death is destroyed; victory is complete!

So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.

____________________

Grant, O Lord, that we may live in thy fear,
die in thy favor, rest in thy peace,
rise in thy power, reign in thy glory;
for thine own beloved Son’s sake,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

The End of the book of Ecclesiastes

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Remember.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/created-12.jpg

cataracts.   http://www.shulmaneye.com/images/cataracts.png

walker.   https://www.vinmec.com/en/news/health-news/general-health-check/learn-to-walk-with-a-walker/

glasses and no teeth.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/smiling-old-man1.jpg

hearing aid.   https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/040317/33-lakh-hearing-impaired-in-karnataka-says-survey.html

graveside.   http://www.wilbert.com/assets/1/7/MainFCKEditorDimension/209-Wilbert.jpg

Renoir.   http://www.artilim.com/artist/renoir-pierre-auguste/girl-reading.aspx

3564.) Ecclesiastes 11

Ecclesiastes 11 (New Living Translation)

The Uncertainties of Life

¹ Send your grain across the seas,
and in time, profits will flow back to you.
² But divide your investments among many places,
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

Or take some alternative advice from Mark Twain, in Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894):

“Put all your eggs in one basket — and watch that basket!”

³ When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

⁴ Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
— Goethe

“Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
— Helen Keller

“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”
— Seneca

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.”
— T.S. Eliot

“Opportunity dances with those on the dance floor.”
— Anonymous

“Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called ‘sure-thing-taking.'”
— Jim McMahon

⁵ Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

⁶ Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Advice for Old . . .

⁷Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. ⁸ When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless.

. . .  and Young

⁹ Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. ¹⁰ So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

_________________________

Music:

For young and old alike, it is a comfort to know that we are never forgotten, or even neglected, by our Heavenly Father.  The Lord will never leave us or forsake us!

HERE  is “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,”  sung by Carabella.

_________________________
New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Ecclesiastes 11:4.   http://www.doorposts.org/images/Old%20Test/Eccl.11.4.jpg

Diversify.   http://aws.canequity.com/assets/images/diversify-your-portfolio.png

Take the risk.   https://thesaurus.plus/img/synonyms/227/take_the_risk.png

old man.   https://ironmanstrength.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/the_old_man_and_the_sea.jpg

young girl playing.   https://www.gryphonhouse.com/images/blog/girl-playing-with-blocks.jpg?w=300

3563.) Ecclesiastes 10

The King James Version talks of “flies in the ointment” in verse 1.

Ecclesiastes 10 (New Living Translation)

¹ As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

² A wise person chooses the right road;
a fool takes the wrong one.

³ You can identify fools
just by the way they walk down the street!

Proverbs 13:16 (NIV)

   All who are prudent act with knowledge,
   but fools expose their folly.

_________________________

Music:

“You can identify fools just by the way they” . . . dress at WalMart.  Yes, I apologize in advance!  HERE!

_________________________

⁴ If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit!
A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.

The Ironies of Life

⁵ There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake ⁶ when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. ⁷I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!

⁸ When you dig a well,
you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall,
you could be bitten by a snake.
⁹ When you work in a quarry,
stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood,
there is danger with each stroke of your ax.

¹⁰ Using a dull ax requires great strength,
so sharpen the blade.
That’s the value of wisdom;
it helps you succeed.

Yes, it is safer to work with a very sharp knife! 

Stanley Lobel of Lobel’s butcher shop in New York explains that a sharp knife means you have to make fewer cuts. A dull knife makes you work harder; several cuts are required where one or two would do.

It’s really a simple law of averages: fewer cuts means fewer chances of cutting yourself over the long run. More cuts, and the risk goes up. A sharp knife will also cut more cleanly and precisely than a dull knife, and with much less chance of slippage.

¹¹ If a snake bites before you charm it,
what’s the use of being a snake charmer?

¹² Wise words bring approval,
but fools are destroyed by their own words.

Matthew 12:36-37 (ESV)

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

“Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say . . . ” was a song I learned as a child in Sunday School. “For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful . . . ” 

“God has given us two ears, but one tongue, to show that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak. God has set a double fence before the tongue, the teeth and the lips, to teach us to be wary that we offend not with our tongue.”
–Thomas Watson

¹³ Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions,
so their conclusions will be wicked madness;
¹⁴ they chatter on and on.

No one really knows what is going to happen;
no one can predict the future.

Quotes about the future:

Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.
–Mattie Stepanek

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.
–Andrew Carnegie

There is nothing like a dream to create the future.
–Victor Hugo

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.
–Albert Camus

I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.
–George Burns

¹⁵ Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.

¹⁶ What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant,
the land whose leaders feast in the morning.
¹⁷ Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader
and whose leaders feast at the proper time
to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.

¹⁸ Laziness leads to a sagging roof;
idleness leads to a leaky house.

¹⁹ A party gives laughter,
wine gives happiness,
and money gives everything!

“Let the good times roll,” they say in New Orleans. How many times has that attitude led to less than gracious situations! My parents, sober Norwegians, raised me with another motto: 

1 Peter 5:6-8 (NIV)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

²⁰ Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts.
And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom.
For a little bird might deliver your message
and tell them what you said.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)  Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

flies in the ointment.    http://www.allisoncarmichael.com/rebus/fly_in_the_ointment.jpg

sharp knife.   https://www.thekitchn.com/the-answers-to-the-emoji-kitchen-disaster-quiz-224772

two people talking.    http://www.clker.com/cliparts/5/b/9/8/1194984513646717809chat_icon_01.svg.med.png

Confucius quote.   http://a2.typepad.com/6a00e5501d9bf3883401bb078f804a970d-320wi 

dilapidated house.   http://oneyearbibleimages.com/ecclesiastes10_18.jpg

“Let the good times roll.”   https://img1.etsystatic.com/057/0/9403275/il_570xN.733407513_dq8v.jpg

A little bird told me.   https://www.goconqr.com/diapositiva/15874940/reported-speech-i-statements

3562.) Ecclesiastes 9

Ecclesiastes 9 (New Living Translation)

Death Comes to All

¹ This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. ²The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t. ³ It seems so tragic that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. ⁴ There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

Ah, but there is something ahead beyond death:

John 5:25-29 (ESV)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

⁵ The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. ⁶ Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.

⁷ So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!

Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  are the Maranatha! Singers and “Give Thanks.”

_________________________

⁸ Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne!  ⁹ Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. ¹⁰ Whatever you do, do well.

1 Corinthians 10:31   (NLT)

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

In Ecclesiastes 9:7–10, immediately after another reminder that everything done under the sun will come to an end for each of us, the Teacher gives us a command: “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do” (Ecclesiastes 9:7).

Death does not just destroy. It urges us to sketch life and light on the canvas of our lives while we can. “Let your garments be always white. . . . Enjoy life with the wife whom you love” (Ecclesiastes 9:8–9).

The logic here is that death loosens my grip on God’s gifts, as if they were ever mine by right, and instead frees me to see his world for what it is: the lavish endowment to wayward creatures of abundant good things we do not deserve. Death frees me to enjoy things for what they are, rather than what I want them to be. Creation is there to be enjoyed and lingered over, not plundered for my gain or manipulated for my fame.

Food and drink, love and sex, work and beauty — these things become even more enjoyable when we paint them into our lives, knowing one day they will pass. Try and hold on to them, or worship them, and we will find we are chasing the wind with only fistfuls of mist to show for all our effort.

–David Gibson

¹¹ I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

¹² People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly

¹³ Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. ¹⁴ There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. ¹⁵ A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. ¹⁶So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

¹⁷ Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person
than the shouts of a foolish king.
¹⁸ Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

Our society honors wealth, attractiveness, and success above wisdom. Yet wisdom is a greater asset than strength, although it is often unrecognized by the masses. Even though it is more effective, wisdom is not always heard, and wise people often go unheeded. From this parable we can learn to be receptive to wisdom, no matter who it comes from.

–notes from The Life Application Bible

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)  Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Ecclesiastes 9:11.    http://fessicsfavorites.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/ecclesiastes-911.jpg?w=700

stairway to Heaven.   https://seniors101.ca/island-voices/environmentally-conscious-to-the-end-and-beyond/

Eat your food with rejoicing.   https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e5/c8/8e/e5c88e9d7e7a923ed5bb63127683a327.jpg

Start each day . . .     http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm3i8rNua81qab193o1_400.jpg

Ecclesiastes 9:10.   https://reformedoutfitters.com/2012/01/18/whatsoever-thy-hand/

Never assume.   https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/fe/05/e1/fe05e1e0a08f6d3609beeab9c8b921f0.jpg

3561.) Ecclesiastes 8

Ecclesiastes 8 (New Living Translation)

 ¹ How wonderful to be wise,
to analyze and interpret things.
Wisdom lights up a person’s face,
softening its harshness.

Obedience to the King

He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.

–St. Augustine

To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.

–Queen Elizabeth I

The King is dead. Long live the King.

–a traditional proclamation made following the accession of a new monarch 

² Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would. ³ Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants. ⁴ His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it. ⁵ Those who obey him will not be punished.

We also recognize that we are always to obey God rather than man if the two contradict (Acts 4:19).

Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right, ⁶for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble. ⁷ Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

The Christian may face the future with confidence and hope. Oh, to be sure, we do not know what a day may bring forth; but we know Him who does know! Furthermore, whatever happens to my loved ones, or my property, or my body, or my country, or anything else, nothing can happen to me! Why? The Christ himself has promised, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world!” (Matthew 28:20).

–James Burton Coffman

⁸ None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.

The Wicked and the Righteous

⁹ I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. ¹⁰ I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.

Yes, I have seen that, too — men who were hard, cruel men, remembered after their deaths for their goodness — ?? 

Shakespeare saw it a different way (from Julius Caesar, Act 3, scene ii):  “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.” And we have seen that, too.

¹¹ When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. ¹² But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. ¹³The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows. ¹⁴ And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!

¹⁵ So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

The Teacher sees so clearly that life is meaningless. All he can say is that we should make the best of a bad situation and enjoy life as much as we can . . .

¹⁶ In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. ¹⁷ I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.

. . . yet here is another perspective:  that God is doing something beyond our understanding. Ah, Teacher, this is an idea worth pursuing!

 _________________________

Music:

In 1773, William Cowper experienced a nervous breakdown. His mind was telling him that he was condemned to hell for all of eternity. In his mental sickness he thought God was telling him to take his own life, so he called a taxi and asked to be taken to the Thames River where he intended to end it all. A thick fog fell about them that evening and the taxi driver drove about lost until he finally stopped to allow Cowper out. When Cowper stepped out of the taxi he found himself standing at his own doorstep. He believed God had sent the fog to spare him. Sometime later he wrote the hymn that contains the phrase so often used by Christians today who seek to understand the ways of God:  God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.

HERE  — Lori Sealy has taken Cowper’s famous poem/hymn, written a new melody and added a couple of her own bridges.  I hope you enjoy it!

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.
He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs and works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace.
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

God moves in a mysterious way that’s often not my own
His wisdom guides each path I take, His mercy leads me home.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour
The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain.
God is His own interpreter and He will make it plain.

God moves in a mysterious way that’s often not my own.
His wisdom guides each path I take, His mercy leads me home.
Help me to trust when I don’t understand
Grant me the peace of resting in your plan.

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.
He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace.
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Blind unbelief . . .     http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2pTEboDF090/0.jpg

crown.  http://gallery.yopriceville.com/var/albums/Free-Clipart-Pictures/Crowns-PNG/Red_King_Crown_PNG_Clipart_Picture.png?m=1399672800

The thoughts of the righteous.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/eccle8-wicked-righteous.jpg

Eat, drink, and be merry.   http://www.twotwentyone.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/eat-drink-merry-multicolor-8×10.jpg

Isaiah 55:8-9.   https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/0d/2a/cf/0d2acfdbaf5f302c83b9fb48bd6b1825.jpg

3560.) Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7 (New Living Translation)

Wisdom for Life

¹ A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume.

One of my favorite poems:

The Courage That My Mother Had 

by Edna St. Vincent Millay 

The courage that my mother had 
Went with her, and is with her still: 
Rock from New England quarried;
Now granite in a granite hill. 

The golden brooch my mother wore 
She left behind for me to wear; 
I have no thing I treasure more: 
Yet, it is something I could spare. 

Oh, if instead she’d left to me
The thing she took into the grave!— 
That courage like a rock, which she 
Has no more need of, and I have.

And the day you die is better than the day you are born.
² Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties.
After all, everyone dies—
so the living should take this to heart.
³ Sorrow is better than laughter,
for sadness has a refining influence on us.

“Solomon says that sadness is better than laughter because a person who is always laughing is not really facing reality. A person who is frivolous is often trying to deaden the pain of an empty life. Very little is learned from prosperity, frivolity, and festivals. But often, we learn the most important lessons of life in times of difficulty. I can testify to that. I know that the most important time in my life as an adult have been the years since cancer has been a part of my vocabulary. I could never have learned the things God has taught me with an unmitigated, unbridled, uninterrupted success pattern of life. Our highest purpose is not to be happy. Our highest purpose is to know God. We can be impressed by truth and doctrine, but usually it takes pain to change us.”

–David Jeremiah

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is the cry of our hearts for a worthwhile life —

Holiness is what I long for,
Holiness is what I need;
Holiness is what You want from me.

Righteousness . . .

Brokenness . . .

_________________________
⁴ A wise person thinks a lot about death,
while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

⁵ Better to be criticized by a wise person
than to be praised by a fool.
⁶ A fool’s laughter is quickly gone,
like thorns crackling in a fire.
This also is meaningless.

⁷ Extortion turns wise people into fools,
and bribes corrupt the heart.

⁸ Finishing is better than starting.
Patience is better than pride.

from Morning and Evening,
by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”
–Ecclesiastes 7:8

Look at David’s Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father’s right hand, expecting until His enemies be made his footstool. “As He is, so are we also in this world.”  You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”

See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness.

That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much–much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch’s head with trumpet’s joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God’s people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. “They shall be Mine,” saith the Lord, “in the day when I make up My jewels.”  “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”

⁹ Control your temper,
for anger labels you a fool.

¹⁰ Don’t long for “the good old days.”
This is not wise.

¹¹ Wisdom is even better when you have money.
Both are a benefit as you go through life.
¹² Wisdom and money can get you almost anything,
but only wisdom can save your life.

¹³ Accept the way God does things,
for who can straighten what he has made crooked?
¹⁴ Enjoy prosperity while you can,
but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.
Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

Philippians 4:11-12 (Good News Translation)

And I am not saying this because I feel neglected, for I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little.

The Limits of Human Wisdom

¹⁵ I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people. ¹⁶ So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? ¹⁷ On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time? ¹⁸Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes. ¹⁹ One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town!

²⁰ Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.

²¹ Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. ²² For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.

The ESV translates verse 21 as:  “Do not take to heart all the things that people say . . .”  My mother was a high school teacher; she re-phrased this verse and said that a good teacher does not see all she sees, or hear all she hears. 

It is simply another way of giving grace.

²³ I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work. ²⁴ Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. ²⁵ I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

²⁶ I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

²⁷ “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. ²⁸ Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

“Eve’s Apple” by Edwina Sandys (a granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill)

This speaks more about Solomon’s choice of female companionship than it does about the relative wisdom of men and women. See what various commentators say:

“His fruitless search for a woman he could trust may tell us as much about him and his approach, as about any of his acquaintances.” (Kidner)

“Such as he knew her to be in Oriental courts and homes, denied her proper position, degraded, uneducated, all natural affections crushed or underdeveloped, the plaything of her lord, to be flung aside at any moment. It is not surprising that Koheleth’s impression of the female sex should be unfavorable.” (Deane)

“He found that a harem did not provide the appropriate companion for man. How much better he would have been with one good wife, such as he speaks of in Ecclesiastes 9:9 and Proverbs 31!” (Wright)

–David Guzik

_________________________

²⁹ But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Wisdom for Life.

“golden brooch.”  http://www.fashionjewelryforeveryone.com/OtherProductsPhotos/b346.jpg

Imperial State Crown worn by Queen Elizabeth.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/200652414339_mtnew_ceremsym_crownjewels_galleryiii-jpg.png

contentment.    https://yourdailyenlightenment.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/visual-inspiration-365-contentment-is-not-the-fulfillment-of-what-you-want-anonymous-web.jpg

Sandys.   http://media.mutualart.com/Images/2009_04/08/0007/151933/151933_ba5cd07d-6b48-4f7a-9034-975ec3c8e504_-1.Jpeg

3559.) Ecclesiastes 6

Leona Helmsley left her money to a pet. Helmsley died of congestive heart failure at age 87 in 2007, and her Maltese, Trouble, inherited $12 million. The courts later reduced the amount to only $2 million. Trouble was able to manage on that, her care-takers spending $8,000 a year on grooming and an unknown amount for a full-time security guard to protect against death and kidnapping threats. I am not making this up.

Ecclesiastes 6 (New Living Translation)

¹ There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. ² God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.

³ A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. ⁴ His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, ⁵ and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. ⁶ He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

I used to tell my children that if they said they were bored, it said more about them than about their situation. I feel the same way about contentment. 

This poor hypothetical man, who lives to be 2000 and has 100 children, yet finds life meaningless — he has been blind to what is right there in front of him! To name just a few:  the joys of sunrise and sunset, the beauty of flowering plants, the deliciousness of certain foods, the delight of laughter with good friends, the satisfaction of a child learning to do a new task, the wonder of a rainbow, the peacefulness of lying down to sleep after a busy day, the gentleness of a friendly smile, and on and on. 

Oh, Lord, give me eyes to see and ears to hear the many blessings that you put in my life day after day after day!

⁷ All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. ⁸ So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

⁹ Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Doris Day singing “Que Sera, Sera.”  I remember my mother answering some of my childhood questions with this same answer!

_________________________

The Future—Determined and Unknown

¹⁰Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny. ¹¹ The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?

¹² In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

We can explain Solomon’s lack of knowledge of the afterlife by understanding the principle of 2 Timothy 2:10: that Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The understanding of immortality was at best cloudy in the Old Testament, but is much clearer in the New Testament. For example, we can say that Jesus knew fully what He was talking about when He described hell and judgment (such as in Matthew 25:41-46). We therefore rely on the New Testament for our understanding of the afterlife, much more than the Old.

–David Guzik

The main mistake of the unfulfilled wealthy man is that he seeks fulfillment and meaning in this world alone.  He “misunderstands the fact that the earthly life has its chief end beyond itself; [his] failing to penetrate to the inward fountain of true happiness, which is independent of the outward lot, makes exaggerated and ungrateful demands on the earthly life” [Keil & Delitzsch, 307].  God does not enable him to enjoy his wealth, because he is so occupied with his material things that he gives no heed to God.  For true fulfillment in life, for true happiness in life, he needs to follow the advice of Jesus:  “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

–Scott Sperling

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)    Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Helmsley and her dog.   https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/09/29/rich-bitch

rainbow.   https://www.pinterest.com/pin/what-causes-a-rainbow–428897564498216163/

Psalm 144:4.   https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/21/f5/a5/21f5a55c41ed72d9c831d0ec43ad8e89.jpg

3558.) Ecclesiastes 5

Someday I hope to worship God here, in the Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal.

Ecclesiastes 5 (New Living Translation)

Approaching God with Care

John 4:19-23 (NIV)

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

¹ As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. ²Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

“Sunday morning worship begins Saturday night,” my husband’s father used to tell him. Prepare yourself for church! Get to bed at a decent time to be well-rested for the next morning. Spend time in prayer for your pastor and the Sunday morning leaders, for your own heart to be open to the Word of God, for new-comers to be welcomed to the house of the Lord! Welcome the Holy Spirit to be at work in your congregation and your worship service!

Verse 1 — “Keep your ears open” has traditionally been translated as “draw near to hear.”  Bible commentator Derek Kidner wrote:  “It has the double force in Hebrew which it sometimes has in English: to pay attention and to obey. So this saying is close to the famous words of Samuel, ‘to obey (literally to listen) is better than sacrifice’” (1 Samuel 15:22). 

³ Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

⁴ When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. ⁵ It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.

A commonly overlooked and unappreciated sin among God’s people is the sin of broken vows – promising things to God and failing to live up to the vow. Those who honor God:

· Will not be quick to make vows to God.

· Will be serious about fulfilling vows made.

· Will regard broken vows as sins to be confessed and to be repented of.

–David Guzik

⁶ Don’t let your mouth make you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.  ⁷ Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

Hebrews 10:19-22 (NIV)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,  by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Michael W. Smith and “Here I am to worship.”

_________________________

The Futility of Wealth

⁸ Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. ⁹Even the king milks the land for his own profit! ¹⁰ Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! ¹¹The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.

– Everett Dirksen

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.

– W.C. Fields

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.

– Charles Dickens

¹² People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

We may suppose that Solomon found little sympathy from the laboring man!

–David Guzik

Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.

– William A. Ward

“I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money.” 

–Pablo Picasso

¹³ There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. ¹⁴ Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. ¹⁵ We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

¹⁶ And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. ¹⁷ Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.

Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.

– Robert Orben

I don’t care too much for money / For money can’t buy me love.

– The Beatles

There are people who have money and people who are rich.

– Coco Chanel

¹⁸ Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. ¹⁹ And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. ²⁰ God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.

This was Solomon’s counsel to the wealthy man who finds no ultimate meaning under the sun. Simply, try not to think about it and keep yourself busy.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Notre-Dame.  http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/100974/nd_-_trekearth1.jpg

church sign.    https://www.facingsouth.org/2010/01/fair-weather-faith-southerners-are-religious-but-how-many-actually-go-to-church.html

“no guilt . . .”   http://rodiagnusdei.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/no-fear-in-death.jpeg?w=189&h=267

fighting about money.    http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/10000/velka/1210-1242160343u74V.jpg

dollar sign.   http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/bRT/dzb/bRTdzbbi9.jpeg

cartoon, “you can’t take it”   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/cartoon-you-cant-take-it.jpg

3557.) Ecclesiastes 4

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lily Tomlin

Ecclesiastes 4 (New Living Translation)

 ¹ Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. ² So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. ³ But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.

Jesus Himself said there was one man for whom it would have been better if he had never been born: Judas (Matthew 26:24).

⁴ Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

⁵ “Fools fold their idle hands,
leading them to ruin.”

Proverbs 6:6-11 (Good News Translation)

Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. They have no leader, chief, or ruler, but they store up their food during the summer, getting ready for winter. How long is the lazy man going to lie around? When is he ever going to get up?
         I’ll just take a short nap, he says;
         I’ll fold my hands and rest a while.
But while he sleeps, poverty will attack him like an armed robber.

⁶ And yet,

“Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind.”

David Guzik writes:  Solomon weaved some fascinating themes together:

• Hard work and success are good and not to be envied.
• Laziness is wrong and destructive.
• Yet even the one with full hands must learn contentment.

The Advantages of Companionship

⁷ I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. ⁸This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing. ⁹ Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ¹¹ Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? ¹² A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

When my father married his second wife, Thelma, he was 86 and she was 81. The pastor preached a wedding sermon on numbers:  In a marriage, he said, 1 + 1 = 1, because “the two shall become one.” Then, 1 + 1 = 2, because you have two different personalities in any marriage. Then, 1 + 1 = 3, because with God, a marriage can be a picture of Christ and the Church, a truly whole and loving relationship. All of which is to say:  Christ is the third cord.

Another picture:  my husband and his business partner recently went to an important business meeting. A dear friend prayed for him to remember that “Christ is the host at that meeting table.” Again, Christ is the third cord.

How wonderfully encouraging this idea can be! Where in your life can you thank Christ for being your third cord? Where in your life can you invite him to be your third cord?

The Futility of Political Power

 ¹³ It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice. ¹⁴ Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison. ¹⁵ But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him. ¹⁶ Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

_________________________

Music:

We all know that country music songs can tell wonderful stories, and  HERE  is one that lines up, kinda sorta, with Ecclesiastes. “Awful, Beautiful Life”  by Darryl Worley.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

rat race.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/rat-race1.jpg

ants at work.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ants2.jpg

Ecclesiastes 4:12.   http://hebrewbible.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/ecclesiastes-4_12.gif

number 3.     http://www.astrogle.com/images/articles/numerology/number-3.gif

3556.) Ecclesiastes 3

Ecclesiastes 3 (New Living Translation)

A Time for Everything

¹ For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.

² A time to be born and a time to die.

__________

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

__________

³ A time to kill and a time to heal.

__________

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

__________

⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.

__________

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

__________

⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

__________

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

__________

⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.

__________

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

__________

“Gabrielle Mending” by Pierre-August Renoir, 1908

⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.

__________

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

__________

⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.

__________

“Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth!”

A time for war and a time for peace.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  Judy Collins sings. I love her serene and powerful voice. “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by Pete Seeger.

________________________

⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS

Christians are to be people who love that which endures. The author of Ecclesiastes writes that God has put eternity within the human heart. This gift makes us yearn for life to be meaningful, so we are never content to give ourselves to that which will fade away. The eternal One has made us for the things that endure. Therefore, Christians will always be different. We can never simply run with the pack, giving ourselves to the things that pass away.

This longing for what is timeless and valuable causes people to reach for God because God is the eternal One. The Holy Spirit’s work is to produce eternal fruit in the character and lives of his people.

It is from the anointing of the Spirit that we find the power to live for the things that endure. “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8). This statement by Paul is the law of life.

Can you detect the difference between time and eternity? Have you found the power to give yourself to that which will endure? Even the most barren person who does so will be fruitful, and the most desolate person will know eternal joy.

¹⁴ And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.

We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, a longing for infinite love and beauty. Only God can fill that emptiness, but we tend to want to take the hunger pains away by filling the hole with substitutes–possessions and wealth, pleasure, power and prestige. We may feel satisfied for a while, but ultimately the restlessness and longing return.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

–from Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

¹⁵ What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

The Injustices of Life

¹⁶ I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! ¹⁷I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”

¹⁸ I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are like animals. ¹⁹ For people and animals share the same fate—both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! ²⁰ Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust. ²¹ For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth?

Yes, but Teacher, remember you told us that God has set eternity in our hearts! In that, we have a glimpse of life beyond this world!

²² So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why we are here! No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.

Here are some ideas to help us know how we can fruitfully work in a wicked world:

Luke 12:15 (Contemporary English Version)

Then he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.”

Matthew 6:33 (New International Version)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [food, drink, clothing] will be given to you as well.

Philippians 4:11-13 (English Standard Version)

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

2 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (Good News Translation)

We say this because we hear that there are some people among you who live lazy lives and who do nothing except meddle in other people’s business. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we command these people and warn them to lead orderly lives and work to earn their own living.

But you, friends, must not become tired of doing good.

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

“for everything there is a season . . .” http://www.4catholiceducators.com/graphics/Ecclesiastes3_1.jpg

newborn baby. http://baby.more4kids.info/uploads/Image/Dec/swaddled-newborn.jpg

corn ready for harvest.    https://cafnr.missouri.edu/2013/11/surprising-harvest/

dog with bandaged leg.    https://k-9lifesavers.org/

building (Habitat for Humanity in Hawaii).   http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/2013/09/13/dhhl-joins-habitat-for-build-a-thon-in-waimanalo/

crying.   https://stevemehta.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/can-crying-actually-make-two-people-closer-new-research-says-so/

old people (!) dancing. https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/oldpeopledancing.jpg

tower of stones.   https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_rock_lesson02_activity1

Welcome home, soldier!   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/embrace-soldier.jpg

search with magnifying glass.   http://www.clker.com/clipart-172636.html

garage sale. http://newsantaana.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Santa-Ana-garage-sale.gif

Renoir. http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/pierre-auguste-renoir/gabrielle-mending-1908

lips. http://redcaperevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Are-you-too-quiet-1024×768.jpg

love your enemies. http://sassywire.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/love-your-enemy.png

star of Bethlehem.   https://prescottenews.com/index.php/2020/12/20/as-heavenly-bodies-converge-many-ask-is-the-star-of-bethlehem-making-a-comeback/

Ecclesiastes 3:11.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ecclesiastes3-11.jpg

God-shaped hole. https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/thegodshapedhole.jpg

try this. https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/trythisgreen.jpg