Today's additional Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 6:7-12
7 All man’s efforts are for his mouth,
yet his appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage has a wise man
over a fool?
What does a poor man gain
by knowing how to conduct himself before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.
yet his appetite is never satisfied.
8 What advantage has a wise man
over a fool?
What does a poor man gain
by knowing how to conduct himself before others?
9 Better what the eye sees
than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.
10 Whatever exists has already been named,
and what man is has been known;
no man can contend
with one who is stronger than he.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
and what man is has been known;
no man can contend
with one who is stronger than he.
11 The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
We saw yesterday that wealth is enjoying what we have and cultivating relationships with people so they can enjoy that wealth with us.
Wealth also means that we need to be content with what we already have, instead of constantly wanting more. (v7-9) Why should God give us more when we're not satisfied with what He's already given us? It's easy to take for granted the things that we already have and gifts God has already blessed us with - whether that's our spouse, our children, our jobs or our stuff. We take it for granted so easily. We need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Of contentedness. Of thankfulness.
In v10 we see that wealthy people also realize that God's ultimately in charge of everything (our lot in life, our appearance, our gifts, our abilities, our jobs, etc) and they accept it.
Mark Driscoll....
they realize that they don’t need to be God. They don’t need to have everything just the way they think it should be. That God is good. And God is loving. And God is in charge. And God is taking care of them. And God’s a better God than they are. And they trust him.
Have you ever noticed that often the more and louder people talk, the less they actually know about what they're talking about? (v10) Most of us can't stand not to understand. We wish God would explain everything to us. But that desire is really a lack of faith. Because if we could understand everything about God and the universe, we think we wouldn't really need Him. But the truth is we can't understand everything about God. If we could, He wouldn't be an overly impressive God. We need to trust Him in faith, without understanding everything.
The big question of life is why are we here? What is our purpose? (v12) Truly the answer is that we exist to bring glory to God. I like what Driscoll says about this...
See, we tend to think, “God really needs me.” No, we really need God. We need God to put life and stuff in our hands. We also need God to give us the ability to enjoy that which he’s given. And God is glorified when we enjoy the life he’s put into our hands and we enjoy him, who’s the great giver. That’s what gives God glory. He made us to need him as a Father.... And he is the giver. He is the God who gives. Gives you life. Gives you wealth. Gives you possessions. Gives you honor. Gives you friends. Gives you his Word. Gives you understanding. Gives you faith to accept the limits of your understanding. The point of life is God. Enjoy who he is. Enjoy what’s he given.
We need to enjoy the season we're in.
If you’re a student, enjoy your school work. If you work in a dead end job, enjoy your dead end job. If you’re sick, enjoy your sickness. You’re healthy, enjoy your health. You say, “I don’t know how to do that”, and he’s already told you. You won’t. That’s a gift that God gives. And it doesn’t mean you’re crazy. What it means is this. Your goal is very simple. “I wanna be close to God. And if I’m sick or healthy; if I’m rich or poor; if I’m married or single, God is still giving me opportunity through all my circumstances to be closer to him and there’s joy in that. There’s tremendous joy. Most of us are chasing what our eyes see rather than enjoying what our hands already have. I have a great wife. If I don’t enjoy her, there’s something wrong with me, not my wife. My kids are amazing. If I don’t enjoy my kids, there’s nothing wrong with my kids. There’s something wrong with me. You are a great church. If I don’t enjoy you, there is something wrong with me. I have a great job. I love my job. If I don’t enjoy my job, there’s something wrong with me. And some people think, “Well, you know, if you’re not happy, just go get things that make you happy.” It’s not the things that make you happy. It’s the Lord that makes you happy.
And you and I, we have just got to come and ask him, “God, give us enjoyment of what we have so that we don’t spend our time chasing what our eyes see, thinking that that will make us happy.”...
His second point in that last verse is, “And who knows what will happen to a man when he dies?”, he writes 700 years before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We know. We look in hindsight what he was anticipating. The meaning of life, the point of life is to enjoy God and what he gives to his glory and our joy. And that carries with us into our death. The people that we are friends, that we love Jesus with, they go into the kingdom with us. The good works that we do out of grace and love for Jesus, they go with us. The food that we eat with friends and laughter is practice for the kingdom where we’ll have the wedding supper of the Lamb. And the tears that we shed are temporary and when we get there, it tells us he will wipe every tear from our eye.
I’ll tell you what happens. “To live is Christ”, Paul says, “to die is gain.” The point of life is to enjoy God and what he gives. The point of death is to continue to enjoy God and what he gives. And, at that point, all of the sin is removed from us. All of the sin is removed from creation and all that’s left is just pure, unadulterated, unfiltered, unpolluted joy. That’s all that’s left. Out of that comes worship and adoration and exultation for God. Just great, great, great love for Jesus, who takes away our sin.
Do you enjoy your wealth? Do you enjoy it with people? Are you content? Have you acknowledged and accepted that God is in charge? That you won't understand everything but accept that He is good and loving by faith? Do you enjoy God and the gifts He gives for His glory and for your joy as He enables you? Do you look forward with anticipation to experience perfect joy that can only come after our physical death?
Tomorrow's scripture focus is Ecclesiastes 7:1-14
If you’re a student, enjoy your school work. If you work in a dead end job, enjoy your dead end job. If you’re sick, enjoy your sickness. You’re healthy, enjoy your health. You say, “I don’t know how to do that”, and he’s already told you. You won’t. That’s a gift that God gives. And it doesn’t mean you’re crazy. What it means is this. Your goal is very simple. “I wanna be close to God. And if I’m sick or healthy; if I’m rich or poor; if I’m married or single, God is still giving me opportunity through all my circumstances to be closer to him and there’s joy in that. There’s tremendous joy. Most of us are chasing what our eyes see rather than enjoying what our hands already have. I have a great wife. If I don’t enjoy her, there’s something wrong with me, not my wife. My kids are amazing. If I don’t enjoy my kids, there’s nothing wrong with my kids. There’s something wrong with me. You are a great church. If I don’t enjoy you, there is something wrong with me. I have a great job. I love my job. If I don’t enjoy my job, there’s something wrong with me. And some people think, “Well, you know, if you’re not happy, just go get things that make you happy.” It’s not the things that make you happy. It’s the Lord that makes you happy.
And you and I, we have just got to come and ask him, “God, give us enjoyment of what we have so that we don’t spend our time chasing what our eyes see, thinking that that will make us happy.”...
His second point in that last verse is, “And who knows what will happen to a man when he dies?”, he writes 700 years before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We know. We look in hindsight what he was anticipating. The meaning of life, the point of life is to enjoy God and what he gives to his glory and our joy. And that carries with us into our death. The people that we are friends, that we love Jesus with, they go into the kingdom with us. The good works that we do out of grace and love for Jesus, they go with us. The food that we eat with friends and laughter is practice for the kingdom where we’ll have the wedding supper of the Lamb. And the tears that we shed are temporary and when we get there, it tells us he will wipe every tear from our eye.
I’ll tell you what happens. “To live is Christ”, Paul says, “to die is gain.” The point of life is to enjoy God and what he gives. The point of death is to continue to enjoy God and what he gives. And, at that point, all of the sin is removed from us. All of the sin is removed from creation and all that’s left is just pure, unadulterated, unfiltered, unpolluted joy. That’s all that’s left. Out of that comes worship and adoration and exultation for God. Just great, great, great love for Jesus, who takes away our sin.
Do you enjoy your wealth? Do you enjoy it with people? Are you content? Have you acknowledged and accepted that God is in charge? That you won't understand everything but accept that He is good and loving by faith? Do you enjoy God and the gifts He gives for His glory and for your joy as He enables you? Do you look forward with anticipation to experience perfect joy that can only come after our physical death?
Tomorrow's scripture focus is Ecclesiastes 7:1-14
1 comment:
I just came across this post today. Somehow I missed it! This is a really, really excellent post. I am learning so much from Ecclesiastes! Love all the questions in the last paragraph. I'm sure that I do not always enjoy the gifts He's given me as He intends me to. Definitely something to work on.
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