Poetry – Ecclesiastes 3-4

Although Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are both Wisdom books, you will find that they teach us about life totally different ways.  Proverbs begins with the fact that there is a living God who gives meaning to all of life (Prov 1:7).  In contrast, we see in Ecclesiastes (Eccl for short), it begins with the man under the sun who chooses to live without God (Eccl 1:16-17).

Proverbs begins with God and asks the question “How should we live?”.

Eccl begins without God and asks, “Why should we live?”.

Proverbs is in general positive.  Eccl is generally negative and pessimistic.  Proverbs promises us that life will be wonderful is we begin with God (Prov 1:1-7).  Eccl warns us that life is empty and meaningless if we begin without God (Eccl 1:2).

In Proverbs, wisdom is more important than money (Prov 3:13-18).  In Eccl, money is more important than wisdom (Eccl 10:19; 1:17-18).

But there is much to learn and be warned about in Eccl because truly, without God – NOTHING in life will have significance or meaning.

Let’s read…

Bible Passage:  Ecclesiastes 3-4

Last week, Treasureinearthervessel asked, “What am I living for?”.

Today, my question is….

What Do I Know About Life?

King Solomon says that there is time for everything,
And a season for every activity under heaven.
But I only want the good times not the bad,
I only want the easy times and not the hard.
I want it to be my kind of time all the time.

But life shows me that it is unpredictable.
Perplexing even.
Just when I thought everything was fine and dandy,
Something comes and snatch away my candy.

A time to …
Weep and Laugh
Mourn and Dance
Keep Silent and Speak
Love and Hate

Such extremes… such contrasts in my life
How can I bear it all?

In the midst of it all, one thing remains constant..

God.

God is the one constant in our inconsistent world.

Do I seek to know and trust Him?

Life is just not fair!

Injustice abounds.
The wicked prosper. The righteous suffers.
The rich buys judges.  The poor is without mercy.
Loopholes are found.  The law abiders wonders why bother…

But I now know that despite what goes on now
“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” (Eccl 3:17).

So I must learn God’s laws and standards
And not follow the world’s.
Evil may prevail for the moment,
But we must all face the righteous Judge.
For God knows my every misdeed – and even the motives behind it.
What hope have I a sinner?
I can only count on God’s mercy
And begin by confessing, repenting and running away from sin.

There is also one certainty in life

No matter how hard you work, how much you gain, how you are loved or despised
All will die.
Mortality is the fate of all.  Just like the animals.

Life is cheap!
No wonder man destroy life without a second thought
Abortion, Euthanasia, Genocides
History is replete with examples…
When man compare man’s life to an animal.

But they have forgotten God!

We will all die even if we believe in God.
This evil of mortality is the curse laid upon mankind.
If this life is all there is, then indeed all is vanity.
But if there is more to come because of Jesus’ resurrection
Are you prepared?

The fear of the Unknown is what bothers most
Life is full of ups and downs.
If things are going well, wait a bit… it will change.
If things are not going well, wait a bit… it will change.

Though God, His creation and His Salvation is constant
For now there is the burden of the unknown.
What will happen?
Will it get better or worse?
So many turns in our life are beyond our control.
We never know what will happen.
What do we do?

Enjoy your work – whatever it is you do.
Whether we do it for self, family, others or even God
Our lot in life is to face our responsibilities doing the best we can.
I want to hear that voice from heaven say,
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Envy is the bane of life
Neighbour against neighbour
Friend against friend
People against people
All in the name of competition and jealousy
No one wins.  No self fulfillment
Only resentment, rivalry and discontment.

Despite the lesson of the Parable of the Labourers
We murmur like the labourers… motivated by greed
We want more than those who did not work as hard as we
We get jealous when others are treated with generosity and grace
We are not longer contented with what we have once we start comparing.

Competition breeds discontent.
What is fair? What is right?
The problem lies in part of our interpretation of justice is from man not from God.
The question in our mind is how we compare to others,
Not how we relate to God.

Much of the motivation for achievement is envy.
Even the disciples argued over who is the best,
And who can sit beside the Lord.

Envy is evil.
Cooperation among Christians can easily fall into competition among Christians.
Do we wish others will fail so that we can succeed?
What is in our hearts?
Discontent, bitterness, and hatred result too often from envying or resenting others accomplishments or position.
Solomon looked around and noticed people who were at peace withdrew from the frenzy of competition.
They looked to God for their inner contentment.

Do I?

Life can be fickle.

What commands our loyalty?
Are we loyal to traditions just because that is what we are used to?
Are we loyal to a country right or wrong?
Are we loyal to a company regardless how things may change?
At what point do we switch loyalties?

Times change rapidly.
Popularity fades quickly.
Allegiance change.

Someone can be imprisoned and become a king or ruler.
Someone can come from poverty and with the right circumstances be very popular.
An old king can be shoved aside for the younger.
The successor rejected when their ideas don’t work.
Such is the fickled nature of man.

Solomon started out with an intimate walk with the Lord.
Through the years his popularity and riches increased
Other things took more of his attention
His wanderngs away from the Lord is not uncommon
He did not even notice that he had lost his first love.

Fads come and go – including Christian fads.
Change is not always bad, but fickleness is jumping from attraction to attraction.
Stability comes when we know what we believe.
Stability comes from the foundation that is revealed to us in the Bible.
How much are we doing to keep God’s word?

A Light In the Midst of Life

In the midst of this cynicism of life
There is a light!
A light that God has put into our hearts
That makes us question why we are here.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts.

No matter how bad life may seem
How hurt we may feel
When we know and believe in God
We see that everything has beauty in its time.

The changing circumstances in our life is not pointless
The endless cycles of ups and downs
The tiredness that comes from wanting to do what is right
The efforts that you put in that are not appreciated
All this to prepare us for eternity.

Our characters are shaped by life and the decisions we make
Choices that we make with or without Christ.
What do you choose?

A Friend Indeed

Life is already so hard,
And yet we have to deal with an unfair world!

God does not leave us alone
He sends true friends to be with us
To help us when we fall
To warm us when we are cold
To keep us safe when we are weak

Do we treasure our friendships?
Do we work on our friendships?
Are we a friend to others ourself?

I failed as a friend very recently

My friend knows how perplexing life can be
My friend is living through the unfairness of life
A life of the fear of unknown
Of fickleness and discontentment

I was not a very good friend
I’ve let my friend down
Speaking when I should have kept silent
Keeping silent when I should have spoken

There’s nothing that I can say or do right now
To make things better
Except to pray and trust in the Lord
That He will make all things beautiful in His time.

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