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June 6 - Ecclesiastes 6 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's shown here. It's Thursday.
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  It is the 6th of the 6th and we're reading Ecclesiastes 6.
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  But I assure you that is all just a coincidence.
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  Because this is the day that God has made for us.
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  And on this day, you and I have gotten together and we have
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  decided, you know what? Rather than flicking on Netflix
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  or turning on the radio or looking at the sky, we are going
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  to dive into God's Word together.
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  Because that's what we do, friends.
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  And I'm delighted, delighted that you've chosen to spend this
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  time with me as you and I will crack open the book of
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  Ecclesiastes once more and we will read the 6th chapter
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  together. Now, if you've started at the
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  beginning and you're still going, well done.
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  Some people really do find this book oppressively depressing and
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  difficult to get through and just give up and say, I don't
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  know what's going on with this. But there are moments of hope in
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  there, right? There are moments in the midst
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  of all of the why do we do this? What is the purpose of all this?
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  Our teacher, the author, sees God and sees God's generosity
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  and God's provision and says, you know what, that's enough.
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  That is enough. So we will continue to read, and
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  this will round out the first section of the book, and we will
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  continue next week with the rest of the book.
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  But As for now, let us read together Ecclesiastes chapter 6.
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  There is another serious tragedy I've seen under the sun, and it
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  weighs heavily on humanity. God gives some people great
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  wealth and honour and everything they could want, but then it
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  doesn't give them the chance to enjoy these things.
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  They die and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying
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  their wealth. This is meaningless, A sickening
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  tragedy. A man might have 100 children
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  and live to be very old, but if he finds no satisfaction in life
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  and doesn't even get a decent burial, it would have been
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  better for him to be born dead. His birth would have been
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  meaningless and he would have ended in darkness.
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  He wouldn't even have had a name, and he would never have
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  seen the sun or known of its existence.
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  Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an
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  unhappy man. He might live 1000 years twice
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  over but still not find contentment.
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  And since he must die like everyone else, well, what's the
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  use? All people spend their lives
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  scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.
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  So a wise people really better off than fools to Poor people.
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  Gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of
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  others. Enjoy what you have rather than
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  desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things
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  is meaningless, like chasing the wind.
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  Everything has already been decided.
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  It was known long ago what each person would be, so there's no
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  use arguing with God about your destiny.
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  The more words you speak, the less they mean.
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  So what good are they and the few days of our meaningless
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  lives? Who knows how our days can best
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  be spent? Our lives are like a shadow.
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  Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
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  Jesus, that we would have contented hearts, that we would
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  look around at the things in our lives with gratitude and not
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  long for the things that we don't yet possess.
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  I pray that you would give us this blessing.
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  Shape our hearts, give us wisdom, as the author of
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  Ecclesiastes speaks of. Then in each moment of each day,
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  we can find peace and gratitude for all that we have been given.
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  Our Lord, you know we live in a world where everything shafts at
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  us. You need more, You should have
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  more. You should be faster, better,
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  different. And here we hear your word that
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  says we are enough as we are. We have enough in what we have
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  for so many of us. We are so blessed with more than
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  what we need. Give us your deep satisfaction,
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  not just in these things, but in you, our ultimate satisfaction
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  that fills the deepest needs of our hearts.
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  We come before you and we worship you, our mighty King and
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  our deep satisfier, all in the name of Jesus, Amen.