Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Ecclesiastes 2:13
Dear Church and Friends,
What is it that someone gets for all their work? A pension check, a happy retirement, what is the fruit of our labor? Well, you can see why Solomon would think these things vain.
Remember, he told us how he would conduct this experiment. Everything is under the sun. What you read in Ecclesiastes must be judged by that limitation. In verse 24 he comes close to stepping outside those perimeters by mentioning labor as a gift from God.
It is a gift from God, but there is so much more. The New Testament transforms labor into a means to glorify God. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col 3:17). So, yes, it is a gift from God for us to enjoy but for the believer it is more, a way to honor our Savior and Father God.
Don’t be saddened by the vanity of labor, transform labor into devotion. Here’s the outline for Ecclesiastes 2:1-26. Click on the link to view or download.
Sermon: Since I’ve not been preaching in the pulpit of CRBC I’ve run out of current messages. I went back to the groove yard of forgotten favorites (otherwise known as 2015) and picked out Sunday Evening sermons that I never published. I hope you enjoy today’s selection.
Prayer Requests:
- Continue to pray for the Bill Lyons family. I saw him yesterday and he told me to thank everyone for their gifts and prayers. They are in their new place in downtown Sharonville on Spinner Street.
- Continue to keep Mollie Teegarden in your prayers as well as the Teegardens who are separated from her while she is in the hospital.
- Pray for Vel Gibson (a friend of Joy Chadwell) who will be having surgery tomorrow for stage 4 breast cancer.
Catechism: The Principles of the Christian Religion.
- Question 71: What is the second commandment?
- Answer: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
- Question 72: What duty is enjoined in this commandment?
- Answer: That all outward means of religious and solemn worship be given unto the same God alone and not so much as the least degree thereof be communicated to any image or representation either of God or of anything else whatsoever.
“Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.”
All my best.
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Ecclesiastes 2:24
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