Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / May 30 - Ecclesiastes 2

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May 30 - Ecclesiastes 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, It's shown here and it is Thursday.
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  It is the 30th of May and I'm sure you all know that that
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  means it's the International Day of the potato, the humble
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  potato. That's right, that's Samwise
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  Gamgee said. Taters potatoes, boil and fry
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  them, cook them in a Stew. Yes, the humble potato is, is
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  one of the staples for our planet and keeps our race alive.
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  This is the day that we recognise it's actually a
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  significant part of of what feeds people around the world.
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  So if you have got a few potatoes sitting there in a
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  potato box awaiting your retention, today is the day all
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  the things you could do with them.
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  And well, I used to think a potato was a potato.
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  And then we moved to Tasmania and there were all sorts of
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  different potatoes. These ones are best for mashing.
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  These ones are best for baking. These ones are best for
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  roasting. Wow, so many different types.
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  Happy Potato Day to you. But more importantly, today is
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  the day that we're going to be reading the 2nd chapter of
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  Ecclesiastes together, as we listen to the teacher continue
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  grappling with these big questions of life and meaning.
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  So let us sit down with him how open up our heart to the bigger
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  things of the universe and read together Ecclesiastes chapter 2.
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  I said to myself, Come on, let's try pleasure.
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  Let's look for the good things in life.
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  But I found that this too was meaningless.
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  So I said laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek
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  pleasure? After much thought, I decided to
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  cheer myself with wine, and while still seeking wisdom, I
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  clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to
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  experience the only happiness most people find during their
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  brief life in this world. I also tried to find meaning by
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  building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful
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  vineyards. I made gardens and parks,
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  filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.
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  I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many
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  flourishing Groves. I bought slaves, both men and
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  women, and others were born into my household.
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  I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the
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  kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.
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  I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many
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  kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both
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  men and women, and had many beautiful concubines.
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  I had everything a man could desire, so I became greater than
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  all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never
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  failed me. Anything I wanted I would take.
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  I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in
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  hard work, a reward for all my labours.
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  But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to
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  accomplish, it was all so meaningless, like chasing the
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  wind. There was nothing really
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  worthwhile anywhere, so I decided to compare wisdom with
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  foolishness and madness. For who can do this better than
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  I, the King? I thought wisdom is better than
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  foolishness, just as light is better than darkness, for the
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  wise can see where they're going, but fools walk in the
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  dark. Yeah, I saw that the wise and
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  the foolish share the same fate. Both will die.
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  So I said to myself, since I will end up the same as the
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  fool, what's the value of all my wisdom?
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  This is all so meaningless for the wise and the foolish both
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  die. The wives will not be remembered
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  any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will
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  be forgotten. So I came to hate life because
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  everything done here under the sun is so troubling.
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  Everything is meaningless, like chasing the wind.
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  I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave
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  to others everything I have earned.
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  And who can tell whether my successor will be wise or
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  foolish? Yet they will control everything
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  I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun.
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  How meaningless. So I gave up in despair,
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  questioning the value of all my hard work.
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  In this world. Some people work wisely, with
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  knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts
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  to someone who hasn't worked for it.
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  This, too, is meaningless. A great tragedy.
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  So what do people get in this life?
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  For all their hard work and anxiety, their days of labour
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  are filled with pain and grief. Even at night, their minds
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  cannot rest. It is all meaningless, so I
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  decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and
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  to find satisfaction in work. Then I realised that these
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  pleasures are from the hand of God, for who can eat or enjoy
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  anything apart from Him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and
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  joy to those who please Him. But if a Sinner becomes wealthy,
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  God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please
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  Him. This too, is meaningless, like
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  chasing the wind. Lord, we are ambitious little
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  ants, aren't we? Scurrying around in our days
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  filled with ambition to build and to achieve and to accumulate
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  and to gain. But here, the teacher says there
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  is no point in that but to find joy in you and your gifts to us,
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  day by day, moment by moment. This is wisdom.
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  This is where meaning lies. Lord, help us bring our
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  attention and our life force back to the here and the now in
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  the sure knowledge that we are your people and we live beneath
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  your great sovereignty. And as we find our place, living
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  at the foot of Your throne, enjoying the gifts that you give
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  us, may that be where we find joy in You and all that you've
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  enabled us to do today for those around us.
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  Thank you for these gifts and for the greatest gift of all,
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  who is Jesus, who restores us to you?
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  And it's in His name that we pray.
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  Amen.