Enjoying Life…

When I look at my life, I don’t see this perfect Christ driven man, who is aware of All of his sin, and working it out with God on a daily basis… I see a broken me, who struggles to give all areas of my life to Christ. A me who inadvertently sins daily… and who overtly sins daily. A me who is tired of religion and is trying to figure out how to separate God’s law from “church” law. I think that a lot of young Christian men feel the same way.

But, there is a solution; His name is Jesus. He loves you more than anything, and if you say you follow Him, you’re going to get haunted by the Holy Spirit in all areas that are not submitted to Christ. You will be blown away by His grace and His compassion. But you are also going to be taken on a life long journey of trials, suffering, persecution, and betrayals by friends, family, and strangers. You are probably going to have a couple of massive set backs in your life as well. BUT, (there is always a “but”) you are serving a God, who turns all things round for His Glory. Who will strengthen you in times of weakness, who will teach you to be wise, and not be prideful. So that when those breakthroughs come, it isn’t you that people are amazed about… It is Christ they are in awe about.

Ecclesiastes is an amazing book of the Bible, the theme of the book is the necessity of fearing God in a fallen, broken, and therefore frequently confusing and frustrating, world. It is a book that will was written roughly in the 10th Century B.C.

I have been going to church my entire life, I have been apart of several different churches, and have visited a lot more on vacations, and mission trips. I have seen some amazing things, and I have seen some things that have made my skin cringe. But at none of these churches have I never heard on quote from Ecclesiastes, and never preaching out of a chapter. To me that is really unsettling. I have talked about it with some friends, and they say that it is “the depressing book” of the Bible, “The life and everything in it is worthless, so why live book”.

To be honest, for a new believer, it would seem that way. Some youth that I know describe asked, “why did they put that book in the Bible?!” But if you read some of the chapters it nails society in present day, and it will continue to until the end of the world.

Ecc. 5:10-12 – “10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.”

That verse is a timeless truth, which will never go away, and will never be forgotten. The love of money never goes away, you don’t wake up one morning and say, “well I have 10 Million, and I’m done working!” Greed is powerful and constant; wanting the bigger and better house, car, computer, phone, etc. will never stop, people like that don’t rest in life, they keep on going and going and going until it kills them, and then there kids get to spend all of it and not learn how to be or do anything in their lives except spend mommy or daddy’s money.

I would love to hear a preach on that! Right now for me this is what I am looking forward to:

Ecc. 9:9 – “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have laboured under the sun.”

Amen! I am going to have to work (toil under the sun) for the rest of my life, but I am going to get to spend every day with the Woman that I love! The best part about that verse is it says, “Enjoy”.

Now I know that, that doesn’t mean I am going to enjoy ever minute with my wife, and we will never have an argument, or agree on the same thing. But when all is said and done, the Bible is telling me to Enjoy the woman whom I Love; that’s all I need to hear when a issue comes in-between me and my fiancée.

Take a look the outline at the bottom of this blog and just see if this book isn’t one of the greatest, and life changing books there is. Very practical, true and simple. Use this book as a guide to test your life to. Use it to see where your true passions are. Use it to challenge you to move forward.

Ecc. 12:13-14 – “13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

…
Chris Long

Outline
I. Introduction and Theme (1:1–3)
II. First Catalog of “Vanities” (1:4–2:26)
A. The “vanity” of the natural world (1:4–11)
B. The “vanity” of wisdom and knowledge (1:12–18)
C. The “vanity” of pleasures, possessions, and accomplishments (2:1–11)
D. More on the “vanity” of wisdom (2:12–17)
E. The “vanity” of labor (2:18–26)
III. Poem: A Time for Everything (3:1–8)
IV. Fear God, the Sovereign One (3:9–15)
V. Second Catalog of “Vanities” (3:16–4:16)
. The “vanity” of mortal life (3:16–4:3)
A. More on the “vanity” of labor (4:4–12)
B. More on the “vanity” of wisdom (4:13–16)
VI. Fear God, the Holy and Righteous One (5:1–7)
VII. Life “Under the Sun” (5:8–7:24)
. Injustice (5:8–9)
A. Greed vs. contentment (5:10–6:9)
B. Wisdom for living “under the sun” (6:10–7:24)
VIII. The Heart of the Problem: Sin (7:25–29)
IX. More on Life “Under the Sun” (8:1–12:7)
. Wisdom in dealing with foolish authorities (8:1–9)
A. The importance of fearing God (8:10–13)
B. The limits of human knowledge (8:14–17)
C. The unpredictability of life and certainty of death (9:1–6)
D. Finding enjoyment as circumstances allow (9:7–10)
E. More on the unpredictability of life (9:11–12)
F. The paths of wisdom and foolishness (9:13–11:6)
1. The power of wisdom (9:13–18)
2. Proverbs concerning wisdom and foolishness (10:1–20)
3. Wise practices in light of the unpredictability of life (11:1–6)
G. Aging and the “vanity” of mortal life (11:7–12:7)
X. Final Conclusion and Epilogue (12:8–14)

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