SOULJournal

Ecclesiastes 9

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

OBSERVATION
Herein lies the philosophy of our culture today...live for now!  Death is the end of all things so enjoy everything before you die.  Life is meaningless but hold on as long as you can and enjoy it as long as you can.

UNDERSTANDING
But for those who have the eternal view we are to remember that this life on earth is not the final destination, we are just passing through.  Our long-term perspective of life requires us to have a different philosophy regarding how we live here on earth.  No matter how crazy this life may become it is not meaningless and without purpose.  We are here to fulfill the will of God and to be made more in His image and likeness.  This life is the prelude for eternity and our actions here have eternal ramifications.  If we look at life from this perspective then many of our actions will change.  OUr priorities will change too...

LIFE APPLICATION
Think about what are priorities are and ask yourself if they reflect a eternal perspective or a temporary perspective.

Ecclesiastes 8

SCRIPTURE 
(NLT) 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... 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.

OBSERVATION
Although at times it seems like the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, we must remember that this is short sighted view of what the reality is.

UNDERSTANDING
So often we complain that those who have no regard for God and his laws seem to have it better than those who are trying to live godly lives.  The "wicked" get away with lying and stealing while the godly have to pay more, suffer more etc.  And immediately we start asking why is that so.  We need to have a much longer view of our lives.  Solomon points us to the fact that life here on earth is a small part of a much bigger existence and when we judge only in the here and now we will never be able to understand the why.  There is an eternity looming where much of what does not make sense in this world will become clearer in the perspective of eternity.  Don't get hung up on the seeming disparity between the wicked and the godly, remember we don't know the full picture.

LIFE APPLICATION
Solomon goes on to give good advice in verse 15.  He says regardless of our situations we are to learn to enjoy life and what we have while we are here on earth.  The enjoyment he is referring to is one of thankfulness and gratitude to God for His great mercy and not the hedonist pursuit of pleasure.  No matter what situation we are in or how unfair we think life is to us we can choose to worship God and enjoy the life we have. 

I pray that you will enjoy this wonderful Christmas season.

Ecclesiastes 7

SCRIPTURE 
Ecclesiastes 7 

OBSERVATION 
One of the benefits of maturity is the ability to look at life in perspective and not get out of balance.

UNDERSTANDING
Solomon tells us that the wise person has a balanced perspective about some of life's perplexing questions.  Wealth he says is nice but wisdom is better.  How many of us despise the rich treasure of wisdom we have from our elders but chase after wealth instead.  

He also tells us to have a balanced perspective about the providence of God.  His statement in verse 13 is an invitation to surrender your life to the will of God and to trust Him that His plans are good and beneficial for us even if we don't understand it in the moment.

He goes on to tell us about keeping our perspective in prosperous times and hard times, when we feel like the wicked is prospering and the righteous is noT.  There is a bigger picture.

LIFE APPLICATION
Many of life's perplexing questions cannot be answered in the short view of just our life here on earth it will only make sense from the perspective of eternity.  We of course do not have a full eternal perspective as yet which is why in the end we must choose to trust God and what He is doing - His plan is good.  That is the bigger picture. 

Ecclesiastes 6

SCRIPTURE
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.

OBSERVATION
Wise people are better off than fools because they know what is important

UNDERSTANDING
Ecclesiastes really makes one think about mortality and the value of appreciating life.  Solomon says that so often we spend our lives just striving for more and more instead of enjoying what we have.  He asks the question if wise people are better off than fools and in verse 9 he answers it by saying what a wise person does...a wise person enjoys what they have instead of constantly desiring what they don't have.

LIFE APPLICATION
We would do well to walk with the wise regarding contentment and comparison.  In our society today we are bombarded with media that reminds us of all that we don't have and we tend to fixate on it.  We have a car but we don't have a Mercedes so somehow we are cheated out of some joy and satisfaction.  But we deserve it so we work longer hours or even steal and cheat to have the "nicer" thing only to discover that it does not bring the joy it promises.  Let us be wise and choose to enjoy what we have rather than constantly desiring what we don't have.

Ecclesiastes 4

SCRIPTURE
⁷ Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

⁸ There was a man all alone;
    he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
    yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
    “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
    a miserable business!

OBSERVATION
What's your motivation?

UNDERSTANDING
Solomon says that one of the most meaningless activities is labor out of selfish greed.  He sees a man working and working and yet not being content with what he has and not even sharing it with someone else - a son or a brother.  He tells us that in the end this person misses out on the joys of life (usually they are found in relationships) accumulating something that needs to be shared and enjoyed.  The truth is that friends and family give strength to our lives and while there are times that the relationships may cause some angst they are worth the time and effort to keep them going.

LIFE APPLICATION
What is your motivation for working?  And are you fooling yourself in working long hours thinking you are doing it for your family and the truth is you are not around to share life with them?  We need to take stock of our lives and priorities so that we are not "chasing after the wind."

Ecclesiastes 3

SCRIPTURE
Ecclesiastes 3 

OBSERVATION
One of the things we could never say about life is that it is meaningless and monotonous.

UNDERSTANDING
Solomon, the cynic, writes that life is nothing more than chasing after the wind…in other words meaningless.  But Solomon the Wise could not let that statement stand unchallenged so he re-examines this statement about life being dull, boring and repetitive.

Life is not meaningless because God is in control of time and balances life's experiences.
Life is not meaningless because God has linked us with Him by setting eternity in the hearts of men.
Life is not boring because God gave us work.

LIFE APPLICATION
The bottom line is that life is a gift from God and one to be enjoyed as we walk this temporary journey here on earth.  Life appears to be transitory, but whatever God does is forever, so when we live for Him and let Him have His way, life is meaningful and manageable. Instead of complaining about what we don't have, let's enjoy what we do have and thank God for it.

Ecclesiastes 2

SCRIPTURE  
I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.

OBSERVATION  
If you look for meaning in the things this world has to offer, you are doomed to disappointment.

UNDERSTANDING  
Solomon is probably in his old age as he is writing this.  His life has been an experiment of looking for significance and for something worthwhile in life.  He has experimented with knowledge, wealth, pleasure and the end result is that it is futile to chase after those things.  The truth is in the final analysis Solomon is right, apart from God everything we chase after hoping for it to provide some sort of satisfaction will leave us dissatisfied.  

LIFE APPLICATION
We would do well to heed Solomon's words.  Today so many people put God aside in order to chase after the very things that Solomon chased after thinking that somehow it will be different for them.  They often discover the same truth that Solomon discovered but by then it is too late.  Meaning in life is found in seeking God and His will for our lives.  Where do your priorities lie?

 

Ecclesiastes

Solomon writes the book of Ecclesiastes with a seemingly cynical look on life at times, but if you go a little deeper you catch the fact that what he is generally saying is be satisfied.  Life may be filled with difficulty and things you don't understand, things seem out of control and it all seems meaningless at times…BUT…life is God's gift to us and to wants us to enjoy it and use it for His glory.  So instead of complaining about what is wrong with everything and how meaningless it all seems why not turn the tables and live from a position of gratitude and satisfaction. 

As you read the book of Ecclesiastes why not read from a position of gratitude and thankfulness and see if it may shake things up a bit.