The Simple Life

For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. (Ecclesiastes 8:6-9 ESVST)   We can see the present, but we have no real idea of the future. Only God knows what will happen and can prepare us for it. The wise person lives each day, yielding themselves to the One who holds that future. https://www.podbean.com/relate365

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. (Ecclesiastes  7:21-22  ESVST)   This verse holds the key to a leader's sanity. If anyone is in leadership, they will be doubted. Many who are under your authority believe that they can do your job better than you, and all whom you serve could give you a lesson on how to serve them better.   Everybody wants to have their voice heard, but they do not mean that they want you to hear them. They want you to listen to them and do what they say. If not, they will claim that you do not listen to them.   A leader hears many voices and probably actually listens to them, but in the end, he still needs to make a decision for which that he alone is responsible, and for which he alone will stand accountable before God.   I have been guilty of criticizing leaders, and was wrong to do so, for my information was limi...

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-2 ESVST)   I'm not sure you would want this message delivered at your party, but these statements contain tremendous wisdom.   I remember talking to a friend whom I accidentally ran into in the checkout lanes of a store. I had not seen him in a while, and he was in a different lane from me so that others could hear our conversation. He told me he was in the area to do music for a wedding. Then he added, "I'd much rather do funerals than weddings." I agreed with him.   The checkout person said something like, "It's always entertaining here," and seemed amused. Yet there is a reason why some of us would prefer to speak or play at a funeral rather than a wedding. Funerals force us to face reality. Th...

The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? (Ecclesiastes 6:11 ESVST)   As someone who loves words and the use of them, even playing with them, this is a convicting statement. However, one must put things in context. The Bible contains many words, and throughout history, we have had many speeches, books, and lectures that have been most helpful because the many words have helped us transform concepts into reality.   The statement that many harmful words refer to is when we take a simple concept and make it difficult, or cloud the water by using many words. The tax code could be simple. We could be told to send in 10% of our income. Instead, thousands of pages need tax lawyers to interpret their meaning.   Not many understand the tax code. It is too long and too complicated. We should not make the simple complex. Instead, we should make the complex simple.   The Gospel is straightforward. There is a God; I am not Him. I am separated from Him bec...

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on humanity: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 ESVST)   Some have much, yet they live in poverty. They are spiritually bankrupt, ethically challenged, and enslaved in the saddest possible way. Imagine having it all but having nothing. There seems to be a game to be played in convincing those around you that having it all fuels significance and security when those who have it all are the most insignificant and insecure people.   Those who have nothing can lose nothing. Those who have much can lose much. Therefore, those with much are often more anxious, angry, and arrogant. It is hard for rich people to love God, for they are too busy loving what God has given them.   When entrusted with wealth, possession...

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil — this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. (Ecclesiastes  5:18-20  ESVST)   Toil enables enjoyment and rest in this world. With complex and purposeful labor comes true enjoyment and rest. Those continually seeking comfort and rest will find neither, for we were made for meaningful toil.   We want to lose weight and be in great shape, but we do not want to eat right or exercise. We want to have good relationships, but we do not invest the time and energy necessary to have them. We want to rest well without toiling much. Sorry, it cannot and will not...

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 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. (Ecclesiastes  5:10-12  ESVST)   We often hear that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, yet we seldom have a definition for the term. Here we are given a definition.   Those who are not satisfied with their income love money. Loving money does not work in that money is something we are to use, not love. We tend to use things we should love, and love things we should use.   Those who focus on their income are slaves to their income. They will change locations, abandon relationships, break promises, and sacrifice precious moments in order to gain a little more. Their significance is tied to their income...

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 ESVST)   Think of this passage the next time you go to church. It seems to me that fools don't even know how foolish they are. They say things they do not mean, and do so in church, in a gathering, where they are to be enjoying fellowship with God and other members of His family.   Yet so often, the words we utter in our songs, the greetings we give in the hallways, and the acknowledgements given to our teachers are really just rash, hasty, or meaningless words.   Those who actually hear the voice of God become silent. Their silence reflects repentance and reflection, conviction and communion, confidence and strength. Sometimes i...

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESVST)   We were not meant to be alone. We never operate best alone. In fact, the gifts God has given us are wasted when not exercised in the context of community. Man does not operate well alone, and man was not meant to ever be alone.   Strength comes in numbers. The greater the number of body parts that have unfettered access to the brain, the greater the ability to accomplish great things.   Significant people have at least three other important relationships in their lives. They have someone older from whom they can learn, someone younger whom they can teach,...

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. (Ecclesiastes  3:14-15  ESVST)   There is only one real power in the universe, God. He is the only one who has the power and authority to grant life and take life. He is the only one who can make sense out of life, death, suffering, and prosperity.   When we try to ignore Him, we are attempting to avoid the only reality there is, and we are thereby forced to live in a fantasy world. This fantasy world is most fragile, and is held together with lies, deceit, and the false promise of a better tomorrow, when apart from God there is no hope for any tomorrow.   A wise person starts and ends with the premise that there is a God and he/she is not Him, and then lives in that context. A fool lives as if he...

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESVST)   Time changes all things. Only God is changeless and is not affected by time. We and all that we own will one day be forgotten, no matter how much we try to preserve the status quo. A wise person invests in what does not change.  https://www.podbean.com/relate365

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 ESVST)   There is no enjoyment available to those who do not enjoy God. All who work hard and "own" much will realize one day how futile all this ownership stuff really is. No matter who you are and how hard you work, all you have will be turned over to someone else one day. They may appreciate or abuse it, but you will have nothing to say. There is no permanence in the temporal, and all you can see and touch is temporal.   A wise investor invests in the surest return. There is no return in that of which most of us invest. ...

So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 ESVST)   One who had it all said this, not one who wanted it all. If you dream about having it all, you are never satisfied with what you have, and then, when you get it all, you miss the hungry years, for there is a tremendous satisfaction that only occurs in the struggle and is not available to the victor.   Perhaps we were made to be hungry and not satisfied. Maybe we were made to work and not rest. Possibly our only satisfaction can come from enjoying God, and we can never seem to enjoy Him enoug...

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. (Ecclesiastes 1:3-7 ESVST)   Some people make living this life their goal. They work hard at living in hopes that they will provide enough for themselves to ensure they stay alive until they die.   All people will make that goal. It is not noble. In fact, it is foolish. No man knows the time of his death. Only God knows that. No man can care for himself apart from God. Without God, we have no past, present, or future.   God and His purposes do not change. We would be wise to align our thoughts and actions to harmonize...

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4 ESVST)   Those who have experienced having it all can testify that it often leaves them feeling like they have nothing. Having it all without God leads to a worthless life.   Temporary satisfaction in this life is worse than no satisfaction, in that those who find satisfaction now often become myopic in thought and deed. When the uncertainty of today eclipses the certainty of tomorrow, and our time and efforts are for what is fading, we will also look back and say vanity of vanity…all is vanity.   It is difficult to look at those who have much and think that they have nothing, yet, in many cases, that is the case. Purpose or significance involves relationships with people, not ...