Archive for the ‘Ecclesiastes-BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for July 15th: Ecclesiastes 7-12

Ecclesiastes has some good and practical advice for us to heed today.  The wise learn from others’ wisdom because they listen and are teachable.  I have saved myself many headaches and heartaches by listening to God’s word and heeding its wise advice.  Here are some verses that have spoken to me from today’s reading.

“When a sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of people are filled with schemes to do wrong.  Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11-12)    Our justice system was originally based on swift punishment but has deteriorated with abundant crime and lax sentences.  Crime increases when sentences are not carried out.  The fear of God restrains evil and helps on His judgment day.

“Cast your bread on the water, and after many days you will find it again.  Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2)  Wise money management requires investing or sowing in order to reap.  Sowing in a diversity of investment is wise because of possible trouble if you put all your investments in one thing.  This simple advice can help us in today’s economy.

“Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”–” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)   As I get older, this advice is something I would give to my own grandchildren and all young people.  An early walk with God, our creator, is the best foundation for all of life and serves us well when we get old and face death.

After trying everything “under the sun”, the preacher (King Solomon) gives us a summary of his findings.  When this wise man boils it all down, the answer to a full life here on earth and a blessed eternity is simple enough for anyone to understand. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Scripture reading for July 14th: Ecclesiastes 1-6

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, except for Jesus Christ, and one of the richest men as well.  He explored life in all it’s aspects.  God appeared to him twice and he got to ask God for his heart’s desire.  He asked for wisdom and God gave him wealth and fame as well.  In Solomon’s later years, he tried to find happiness and meaning “under the sun” apart from God.   His verdict is found in this writing.

Solomon, being wise, considered wisdom as an end in itself.  He looked at the fool and found that the same fate came to the wise and the foolish.  Neither the wise or the foolish will be long remembered after they pass from  this life–and both will!  His conclusion was that pursuit of wisdom as an end apart from God is meaningless!  (Ecclesiastes 2:13-16)

Solomon considered his work and toil as a source of meaning.   Work produces many nice things and accomplishments but ultimately the worker dies and must leave all his work to another.  The one who inherits all the beautiful works may lack wisdom and desire to use and care for them.  These thoughts brought despair and a sense of meaninglessness to Solomon.  Work ultimately can’t bring satisfaction either. We must enjoy what we have and realize that God is the source of all true satisfaction and happiness!  (Ecclesiastes 2:17-26)

Money and an abundance of goods also cannot bring or buy happiness.  The love of money brings a restlessness for more and more.  As we gain more things, they are consumed, and others come to help in the process.  A fortune may be gained only to be lost in a moment by accident or misfortune.  When it comes time to depart this life, we take none of this with us.  “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.  He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.” (Ecclesiastes 5:15)

Solomon’s conclusion so far was that life apart from God appears to have no real meaning.  We are born, we live, and then we die.  Whatever we accomplish and how we lived our life is all left behind at death and we are soon forgotten.  A life without God is “meaningless”!

Scripture reading for July 15th:  Ecclesiastes 7-12

This quest of Solomon to find meaning is played out every day in our world.  People are going to and fro seeking pleasure, wisdom, meaning and purpose in life under the sun.  They are trying wine, women, sports, building, materialism, and fame to find happiness and fulfillment. Many are laughing and appearing to have fun, but it is shallow and meaningless.   Many are in bondage to sins of the flesh and are miserable.  They go from one form of bondage to another looking for that elusive fulfillment that can only be found in God Himself!

Solomon tells us that the day of death is better than the day of birth.   Death takes away every man and their works will stand judgment.  Being mindful of this should give us motivation for righteous living here and now.    There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right all the time and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:10; Romans 3:23)  Solomon found that God had made men upright, but that men in their folly had gone in search of many schemes!  (Ecclesiastes 7:29)  How true of man throughout history and today!

No man knows when the hour of his end will come.  Things don’t always turn out according to a movie script where the good guy wins and the evil person is destroyed!  “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11)  No one really knows the future or what it holds.  Accidents can come suddenly and death can snatch us from this life without warning!   “As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.” (Ecclesiastes 9:12)

“The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails–given by one Shepherd.  Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.  Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.  Now all has been heard; her is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or bad.” Ecclesiastes 12:11-13

Solomon concludes his book with a simple warning.  Let the fear of the Lord and obedience to His commands drive your life.  It is the beginning of all wisdom and wise living.  Don’t try and add to God’s words but simply obey what is written!  In the end, God will judge each person for what he has done!   These are wise words to be pondered and applied!

Scripture reading for July 14th: Ecclesiastes 1-6

If you try to make sense of life without God in you heart or mind, there is only one term that consistently comes to mind:  meaningless!  Life is hard to make sense of without God’s Word or knowledge.  Man is left with darkness in his understanding and the futility of life under the sun.  This life without God has no real purpose or meaning.  It appears that we come about by accident and leave earth by calamity or slow death.  Some live short lives and others relatively long lives.  Some are blessed and others struggle with troubles and pain.  Our days are short and they fly by.

Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived outside of Jesus Christ, decided to try to find meaning in life by pursuing riches, fame, and fortune to the maximum.  The result is this book of Ecclesiastes!  When you read it, you must understand it’s perspective.  Solomon finds no meaning in endless days of toil and work of man.  He feels that there is nothing really new under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 1: 9-11)  We spend our time working and gathering and death takes us away.  In a few years or less, no one remembers us or what we have done!

Solomon tried to find meaning with the pursuit of pleasure and things that brought laughter.  He tried wine and folly but found meaninglessness!  He then tried great building projects to find satisfaction.  He built houses and planted vineyards and fruit orchards.  He built lakes and had many servants.  His herds and flocks were numerous and his treasury filled with silver and gold.  He hired singers and entertainers and even bought a harem of beautiful women to enjoy as he pleased.  He had no lack of anything his heart desired and he enjoyed his labor but as he thought about it, it too was meaningless!  (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)

Solomon noted that all his hard work would be left behind when he died and given to someone else who did not work for it.  This was a hard thing to grasp.  (Ecclesiastes 3:21-23)  His conclusion was that if  man would eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work each day, that was a gift of God.  Without God, we can’t find meaning or enjoyment!  (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

“He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Solomon concludes that God has made a time for everything under the sun.  These times are in His hands and man must accept that with gratitude.  Man has an inner knowledge of eternity.  Each knows that he is an eternal being who will be judged by God one day, but is darkened in his understanding because of sin so that he cannot understand the plans of God.

Take a moment to thank God for revealing eternity and the plans of His heart through Jesus Christ!  In Christ we now have eternity restored in God’s presence!  Praise the Lord!