SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/10/2013
7:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Life is an
Adventure: Live by Faith
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eccl. 11:1-2
Message of the
verses: In today’s SD we begin the
11th chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes where Dr. Wiersbe entitles
his chapter on this subject “What Life is All About.” I suppose if this were put into a question
that it would have been asked many, many times by both unbelievers and
believers alike. Solomon was asking a
similar question at the beginning of this book, “Is life worth Living,” and
after his investigation of life “under the sun” by doing different experiments
his conclusion was “no, life is not worth living!” (We get this answer from the wisest man in
all the history of man on earth.) Dr.
Wiersbe tells us that Solomon “gave four arguments to support his
conclusion: the monotony of life, the
vanity of wisdom, the futility of wealth, and the certainty of death.”
What is it that will change his mind to think that life
is worth living? The answer of course is
to bring God into the picture, so Solomon would review his arguments with God
in the picture and this will make all the difference in the world. Dr. Wiersbe writes that Solomon “realized
that life was not monotonous but filled with challenging situations from God,
each in its own time and each for its own purpose. He also learned that wealth could be enjoyed
and employed to the glory of God.
Through man’s wisdom couldn’t explain everything, Solomon concluded that
it was better to follow God’s wisdom than to practice man’s folly. As for the certainty of death, there is no
way to escape it; and it ought to motivate us to enoy life now and make the
most of the opportunities God gives us.
“Now Solomon was ready for his conclusion and personal
application. What he did was present
four pictures of life and attach to each picture a practical admonition for his
listeners (and readers) to heed. The
development looks like this:
Life is and Adventure—live by faith (11:1-6)
Life is a Gift—enjoy it (11:7-12:8)
Life is a School—learn your lessons (12:9-12)
Life is a Stewardship—fear God (12:13-14)”
As we begin this first section we will see that Solomon
will use two activities to illustrate his point that “life is an adventure—live
by faith.” He will use the illustration
of the merchant when is seen in verses 1-2 and then the illustration of the
farmer which is seen in verses 3-6. Let us just look at the first illustration
in today’s SD.
The merchant (vv. 1-2):
“1 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it
after many days. 2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do
not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.” (NASB) “1 Send your grain across the seas, and in
time, profits will flow back to you. 2 But divide your investments among many
places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.” (NLT)
The NLT helps us understand what Solomon is talking about
better than the NASB, for Solomon is saying that a merchant must send his grain
out onto the sea in ships in order to sell it, even though risks are involved,
and when he sells it he is to take his profits and invest them in different
areas to avoid losing all of the if he had put all his eggs into one basket. I want to show why Solomon would use this
illustration from a number of verses in 1Kings 10:14-15, and verse 22. “14 ¶
Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666
talents of gold, 15 besides that from
the traders and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and
the governors of the country. 22 For the king had at sea the ships of Tarshish
with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came
bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.”
Why would Solomon put his profits into different
ventures? The answer to this question is
that faith is not presumption. Solomon
uses the words “for you do not know” several times in this section, verses 2,
5, and 6. Even Solomon, the wisest man
who ever lived would say for you do not know because he did not know, for only
God knows and uses things to work out His plan for those who live on planet
earth. Now even if we do not know we
must not use our ignorance to make us fearful, for we can trust the Lord even
when things do not work out the way we want them to, for we have the assurance
that God is in control.
Spiritual meaning
for my life: This is a difficult
section of Scripture for me to deal with because of past mistakes, but the Lord
is still in charge and has promised to work all things out for my good and His
glory so I will have to confess the sins of my adventures and turn from them so
that I will not repeat them.
My Steps of Faith for Today: “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And
do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And
He will make your paths straight.”
Memory verse for the week: Psalm 46:1
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in
trouble.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Solomon” (1 Kings 3:1).
Today’s Bible
Question: “What is the name of the
middle book of the New Testament?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
6/10/2013 8:44 AM
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