SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/13/2013
8:30 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Labor without Satisfaction
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eccl. 6:7-9
Message of the
verses: Just a reminder that we are
studying three of life’s mysteries that Solomon presents in this chapter.
“7 All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the
appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage does the wise man have over the
fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the
living? 9 What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is
futility and a striving after wind.”
7 ¶ We work to
feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry. 8 So what advantage has a sage over a fool, or
over some poor wretch who barely gets by? 9
Just grab whatever you can while you can; don’t assume something better
might turn up by and by. All it amounts to anyway is smoke, and spitting into
the wind.” (The Message)
I think that when we look at verse seven in “The Message,”
that we get the idea of what Solomon is saying.
Both the rich and the poor have to work in order to feed their appetites,
and this does not just mean their physical appetites, however it is very
possible that our souls go hungry if we are not careful to feed them too.
Dr. Wiersbe poses a question: “Why does a person eat?” I suppose that one answer is because they are
hungry and another answer it to add years to one’s life. He then states “But what good is it for me to
add years to my life if I don’t add life
to my years?”
Solomon asks two questions in verse eight and the answer
to both questions is “none.” If all we
do in this life is surviving then we are missing the reason that God put us on
this earth. What is the chief end of man? Here is what the a Puritan has to say about
this question:
“Question. 1. What is the chief end of man?
Answer.
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.
Here are two ends of life
specified. 1. The glorifying of God. 2. The enjoying of God.
First.
The glorifying of God, 1 Pet. 4:11. “That God in all things may be glorified.” The glory of God is a silver
thread which must run through all our actions. l Cor. 10:31. “Whether
therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial; now, man being a
rational creature, must propose some end to himself, and that should be, that
he may lift up God in the world. He had better lose his life than the end of
his living. The great truth asserted is that the end of every man’s living
should be to glorify God. Glorifying God has respect to all the persons in the
Trinity; it respects God
the Father who gave us life; God the Son, who lost his life for us; and God the
Holy Ghost, who produces a new life in us; we must bring glory to the whole
Trinity.”
If we miss this then we are somewhat like animals that
just live to feed themselves and keep from getting eaten by other animals.
Dr. Wiersbe writes:
“A century ago, when the United States was starting to experience
prosperity and expansion, the American naturalist Henry David Thoreau warned
that men were devising ‘improved means to unimproved ends.’ He should see our world today. We can send messages around the world in
seconds, but do we have anything to say?
We can transmit pictures even from the moon, but our TV screens are
stained with violence, sex, cheap advertising, and even cheaper entertainment.”
In verse nine Solomon might be saying “a bird in the hand
is worth two in the bush.” The Greek
biographer Plutarch who lived from 46-120 is credited to have written “He is a
fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.” Dr. Wiersbe states that Solomon is saying “It’s
better to have little and really enjoy it than to dream about much and never
attain it.” We do this by our dreaming
and those dreams at times can turn into nightmares. It is not wrong to dream about things we want
to accomplish, but the ambition we have from our dreams should bring glory to
God for after all that is the chief end of man.
I enjoy listening to missionaries who have come to the churches that I
have attended and what I enjoy about their talks is the dreams that they have
to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in the fields that God
has chosen for them to go to. Then they
will tell stories of some of the people that they have led to the Lord. These kind of real life stories will always
bring tears to my eyes as I rejoice in what they are doing for the cause of
Christ. Jesus says in John 4:34 “"My
food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section with these wise
words: “Yes, in the will of God there
can be riches with enjoyment and labor with satisfaction. But we must accept His plan for our lives,
receive His gifts gratefully, and enjoy each day as He enables us. ‘Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore’ (Ps. 16:11).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It is a good
reminder of knowing the reason that I am on this earth, that is to bring glory
to my maker. It was good to learn from
the puritan sermon who said that God the Father gave us life, God the Son lost
His life for us, and God the Holy Spirit gives us new life. Our new life is the most satisfying kind of
life to have.
My Steps of Faith for Today: That my life may bring glory to the Lord.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Cor. 5:17-19
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, knew things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled
us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely,
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Potiphar’s wife.” (Genesis 39:7)
Today’s Bible Question: “What is the shortest book in the Bible”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
5/13/2013 9:46 AM
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