Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12 in the Amplified Bible http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%2012;&version=45

Okay, I got the first line, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” In other words, “Get to know God while you still have your wits about you.” But the rest of Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 made little sense to me until I read it in the Amplified Bible. This translation gives more definition to the words in Scripture by placing explanations in brackets. So it helped me to understand this particular Scripture passage by explaining that the “strong men” were the feet and knees, and the “windows” were the eyes, etc. These verses are describing what we will feel like when we are old. (I played basketball last night at youth group; so I am experiencing feeling old firsthand!)

Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher has continually discovered how meaningless life is. However, at the end of his life, he still encourages us to get to know God early in life. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Learn the ways of God while you still have life in you, while life is still rewarding. Don’t suffer through this difficult life on earth all by your lonesome. Find the blessing of God in your youth, and your life will be more meaningful than you could ever imagine.

This should certainly be our prayer for our children and grandchildren and any other youth we may have influence over. When Zach and Jacque were born, I began praying that they would come to know Jesus at the earliest possible age. I believe that the Christian walk is a process, and the earlier you get started, the further Jesus can take you on the journey. Coming to know Christ is not a one-time event. He unveils our eyes a little at a time. People who find Jesus as children have the opportunity to learn to trust Him completely, before their hearts are completely bruised by the world, in most cases. When we wait until later in life to trust Christ, we have to take a crash course. So, teach your children to love Jesus while you nurse them in the rocking chair.

Now that our children are becoming teenagers, our prayer is that God will make their faith their own. We don’t want our children to go to church just because we make them. We want them to fall in love with Jesus. We want them to be God-followers because He is drawing them unto Himself. If you or your children begin to doubt the existence of God, pray earnestly that He will prove Himself. He will honor that prayer because He wants us to be certain of our faith. He does not want us to have to continually guess whether He will show up when invited. Our God is dependable. Beg Him to show up to you!

Verses 9-14 summarize what we have read in all of Ecclesiastes. I like the description of the wise words—prodding goads, nails firmly fixed in our minds. Studying Scripture should help us nail down what we believe, don’t you think?

Verse 12 is certainly proving true in this the information age. The vast number of books available these days is absolutely overwhelming. You can find an author for every topic. In fact, you can even become an author yourself! Be careful what you read, and always compare it to Biblical truth.

Verse 13—1. Fear God, 2. Keep His commandments. That is our whole duty. Sounds simple enough. . . .

Ecclesiastes 5

The Teacher is telling us to shut up and listen when we go to the house of God. Phillips, Craig & Dean have a song that plays on K-Love all the time http://www.klove.com/lyrics/lyrics.asp?566 , and it comes from Ecclesiastes 5:2. He is God, and we are not; so why do we chatter on as we do? When I pray, I need to listen to what God has to say to me rather than ordering Him around on my agenda. Verse 6 directs us, “Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.” A word to the wise this fine Wednesday morning!

Verse 10 hits very close to home this week since our retirement accounts took a nose dive as a result of the national economic conditions. “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.” My husband and I have very opposite spending habits. He likes to describe me as a tightwad, and I label him as an impulse buyer. The fact of the matter is that due to our sinful natures, we are both “lovers of money.” One of us can never have enough in the bank, and the other of us can never have enough to satisfy our wish list at the retail stores. Dear Jesus, may our family find our satisfaction in You today, no matter how much or how little You provide for us materially. May we find our fulfillment in our relationship to the God of Heaven. Forgive us for trying to hoard it all for ourselves. Verse 15, “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.” Trent likes to say that he’s never seen a U-Haul following a hearse to the cemetery.

Verses 18-20 really sum up everything the Teacher has been getting at. Eat, drink, and be merry. If God grants you wealth plus the ability to actually enjoy your possessions, then count it as a double blessing. Think about this. What material blessing have you thanked God for this week? Do you thank Him for your automobile, or do you complain about high gas prices? Do you thank Him for your home, or do you sit and worry about what needs fixing? Do you thank Him for your closet full of clothes, or do you whine that you have nothing to wear? All of us are guilty of wanting more, more, more and being thankful for very little of it when we get it.

Looking forward to hearing your comments!

Ecclesiastes 4

I know you are a forgiving bunch and would understand if I gave you a list of reasons why I have not posted for a week. However, I won’t put you through the list. I will sum it up by saying I have procrastinated because even though I read Ecclesiastes 4 almost every morning this week, I’m just not inspired to write about it. So, I will comment only on a handful of verses. Will you please take the liberty to write about the verses that speak to you, especially if I happen to skip your favorites? Thanks!

Verse 1—The oppressed have no comforter. This really stands out to me, especially since the writer repeated it twice in the same verse. Why do the oppressed have no comforter? God loves them. He wants to be their comforter. You and I try to comfort those who are in need. Why are they not comforted? This verse says their oppressors have power so they can’t or won’t be comforted. Hmmm. Think of someone you have repeatedly tried to help, but they always end up right back where you found them. That someone could even be you and me. Why do they tend to slide backwards? Because their oppression has such power over them. Perhaps we need to help people pray against their oppression while we are trying to meet their physical and emotional needs. I know I get overwhelmed with trying to meet needs over and over again. But I can pray, and prayer is powerful because it invites our all-powerful God to defeat the oppression. Am I way off-base here?

Verses 9-12—Two are better than one. I have always liked this passage. Life is much easier and a lot more fun when you share it with others. I have often said that I would be a horrible single mom because I depend on my husband for so much. I cannot imagine the stress single parents endure, and I know several of my fellow bloggers have been there. I admire your tenacity, and I want to encourage you to hang in there, to take one moment at a time, and to find a trusted friend to walk beside you when the days are long and discouraging.

Two are better than one, and we should all be grateful for our friendships. My natural tendency is to be a loner. I would be content to stay in my house all day, every day, reading, blogging, piddling with paperwork and other stuff that probably will not impact eternity. Friendship takes a conscious effort for me. I have to be careful because I want others to take the first step to initiate friendship. Proverbs 18:24 in the King James Version says we have to be friendly to others if we are to have any friends. So God’s challenge to us today is to get out of our computer chairs and go be a friend to somebody. Let me know how it works out for you, okay!