Life is an Adventure: Live by Faith PT-2 (Eccl. 11:3-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/11/2013 6:56 AM

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  Life is an Adventure: Live by Faith PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Eccl. 11:3-6

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the second sub-point under this first main point of chapter 12 in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Ecclesiastes which is the final chapter in his book “Be Satisfied.” 

            The Farmer (vs. 3-6):  “3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies. 4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. 6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.”

            This section talks about the farmer, and farming is a hard job today, but it was much harder during the times that Solomon wrote this book.  The farmer has to depend upon the rains to come at the right time to water the crops and to keep it growing and this too takes a lot of faith.

            In verse three we can see something that is more or less permanent contrast with something that continues to change, the clouds continue to change while the trees are more permanent.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The past [the tree] cannot be changed, but the present [the clouds] is available to us, and we must seize each opportunity.”

            We see living a life by faith spoken of in verse four for if a person is looking for an excuse not to plant or harvest their crops they can easily find one, but it takes faith to put the seed in the ground knowing that you cannot take charge of the weather, but must rely upon the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe quotes Billy Sunday who said an excuse was “the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”  “Life is an adventure and often we must launch out by faith, even when the circumstances seem adverse.”  (Be Satisfied)

            In John 3:8 we read something similar from verse five of Eccl. eleven, “"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”  We cannot know the way of the wind or how a fetus is formed in the womb, (Psalm 139:14-15), and so there is nobody who knows the work of God in his creation.  We have already learned that God has a time and a purpose for everything from Eccl. 3:1-11, and so we must live our life by faith in God, and in His Word, so in light of this we must use each day wisely as Solomon talks about in verse six.  We must get up early in the morning to do our tasks and just as the merchant who sends his produce out on different ships believing that some of them will work out in returning a profit to him, so we must trust God to bless as least some of the tasks that we perform each day. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes this first main point with these words:  “Life is an adventure of faith, and each of us is like a merchant, investing today in that which will pay dividends tomorrow.  We are like the farmer, sowing various kinds of seeds in different soils, trusting God for the harvest (Gal. 6:8-9); Ps. 126:5-6; Hos. 10:12).  If we worried about the wind toppling a tree over on us, or the clouds drenching us with rain, we would never accomplish anything.  ‘Of course, there is no formula for success,’ said famous concert pianist Arthur Rubinstien, ‘except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and whit it brings.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must keep my life clean from sin so that I can have fellowship with the Lord, and then I must ask the Lord for wisdom (Pr. 3:5-6), and then trust the Lord to lead me and guide me in the path that I must take.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pr. 3:5-6.

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:  “2 Thessalonians.”

Today’s Bible Question:  “Why was the Lord angry with Solomon?”

Answer in tomorrow’s SD.

6/11/2013 7:31 AM