Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "How to Enjoy God's World God's Way" by Hiram Kemp

Transcript

"How to Enjoy God's World God's Way" by Hiram Kemp · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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There are two ways that people typically look at the world and look at viewing the world
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and both of these extremes must be avoided.
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The first way that most people approach their way through living in the world is what we'll
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just call full-on worldliness.
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This is where a person says the only way to truly enjoy life is to run fully in the opposite
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direction of God and in so doing, you should engage in and participate in, practice whatever
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you desire, whatever makes you feel good regardless of what God's word says about it.
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You typically find this kind of behavior worked out as people engage in adultery, dishonesty,
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murder, rage, the works of the flesh that Paul condemns in Galatians 5, 19 through 21.
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These are the kinds of behaviors that John is saying we should abstain from when he says
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love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
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If any man loved the world, the love of the Father's not in him, 1 John 2, 15 through
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17.
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It's these kinds of behaviors that Paul is saying we should put to death because we're
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new people in Christ, Colossians 3, 5 through 9.
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The second extreme though that people often engage in in their relation to the world and
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how to live is what you might call the monastery approach.
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And this approach says the only thing that we should do in this life, the most spiritual
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thing anybody could ever do is read the Bible, pray, always attend worship services.
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More than that, get as far away from other people with all of their sin and ickiness
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as you possibly can and avoid this world because it's actually this world that's trying to
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bring you down.
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And as much as that way seems to be more righteous and more holy, that's not the whole story.
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Marilynne Robinson is right when she says cynicism sometimes seems more holy and more
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righteous but it's equally sinful and dangerous.
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Paul says this is a false doctrine to abstain from.
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It's the doctrine of demons and asceticism.
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In 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 4, it's exactly what Jesus prayed against in John 17 and verse
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15 when he prayed, Father, I pray not that you should take them out of the world but
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keep them from the evil.
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Paul said we'd have to avoid and go out of this world to avoid evil altogether, 1 Corinthians
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5 and verse 10.
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And as we currently live, that's not God's will for us.
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This idea of sinfulness or separatism, neither of these things glorify God.
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But there is a third way.
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There's a better way to enjoy God's world and live the way that God would have us to
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and it's lost on many people because many people find themselves choosing between the
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one or the other of the two extremes we previously described.
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More than that, not only are people surprised that you can also live a righteous life, abstain
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from sin and unrighteousness, please God, and still have your eyes on the world to come,
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I think people are also shocked when they study the Bible and find what book of the
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Bible this is taught in.
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The book of Ecclesiastes is normally said by people to be a book of drudgery, of darkness,
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of discouragement because of Solomon's often repeated refrain, vanities of vanity found
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in chapter 1 and verse 2 and chapter 12 and verse 8.
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But the idea of vanity in Ecclesiastes doesn't mean meaningless.
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It doesn't mean empty or nothing's important.
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The idea of vanity that runs throughout the book of Ecclesiastes has more of the idea
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of brief, of short, of quickly passing.
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And what Solomon says throughout this book is life is sometimes hard.
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Life is dark.
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Life is difficult.
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But life is also good.
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There are two primary ways that people can try to engage with the world.
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It's through your own way of living under the sun.
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And Solomon says if you choose that way, you'll be discouraged, you'll be disappointed, you'll
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meet failure.
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But if in your life under the sun, you seek to please, honor, and glorify God, he says
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you can do that.
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You can have joy in this world and also in the world to come.
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And this matters because throughout your life, you'll be tempted with one of these two paths.
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And if you look at people's lives that you know, you see people doing both of the two
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extremes we just talked about.
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Some people are plunging headfirst into the darkness because as far as they're concerned,
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I've got to get all that I can now.
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The only way to truly enjoy this world, spirituality is holding me down and I've got to break loose
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from all of that to truly enjoy my existence in this world.
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And then there are people on the opposite extreme.
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And they say, let's run to the mountains and get into our spiritual cubbyholes.
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Let's get away from all of these wicked people.
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Have you seen the news?
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The world is dark.
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And Ecclesiastes meets us through the words of Solomon and he says, avoid both of those
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extremes.
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They both dishonor God and ultimately cheapen your existence in this world.
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You can love God.
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You can love righteousness and holiness and keep your eyes on the world to come and still
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enjoy God's world, God's way.
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And it's not as complicated as it might seem.
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Here's how we do it.
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Number one, enjoy your work.
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And Ecclesiastes 2 and verse 24, throughout this book, he has these joy statements that
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punctuate this writing.
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And throughout it, Solomon says, here's some of the things God wants you to know, even
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in a world of darkness, of sin, and disappointment.
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Ecclesiastes 2, 24, there's nothing better than that a person should live, he says, eat
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and drink, enjoy their toil, because this also is from the hand of God.
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And chapter 3 and verse 13, he doubles down on this same idea and he says, along with
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other things, your work and your toil, your labor that you engage in, he says, this is
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a gift from God and it's a blessing.
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And chapter 5 and verse 18, all of your work that you engage in is a part of the blessing
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that God wants you to enjoy.
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As you get near the end of this book, in Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10, Solomon says, whatever your
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hands find to do, do it with all your might, because there's no work, no labor, no toil
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in the grave into which you're going.
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And so if you want to enjoy God's world, God's way, the first thing you've got to do is enjoy
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your work.
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And if you're going to read these passages properly, if we're going to engage with the
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book of Ecclesiastes and what it says about work in the right way, the first thing we've
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got to do is read the first three chapters of the Bible properly.
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A lot of people view work as a consequence of the fall.
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A lot of people think of the sin in Genesis chapter 3 as something that makes work not
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to be desired and as a consequence of our transgression.
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But in Genesis 1 and verse 28, God gave Adam and Eve dominion over his creation and over
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the birds of the heavens, over every beast that creeps on the earth.
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And it was humanity's responsibility to cultivate, to develop, and to further the creation that
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God had given us.
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In Genesis 2, 15, before sin ever enters into the world, he tells Adam, you are to dress
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the garden and I want you to keep it and to nurture it and develop it.
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Yes, in Genesis 3, sin enters the world.
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It changes our relationship to work.
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Sin says your work will not always be enjoyable, but it never says that your work or my work
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would be evil.
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It's always been dignifying and glorifying to God that people should engage in work and
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development and creation and in contributing to the world.
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Our prayer is the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 90 and verse 17, establish the work
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of our hands.
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You might be familiar with Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10, if a man doesn't
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work, neither shall he eat.
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But Solomon says, if a man doesn't work, neither will he enjoy.
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You were made to work and as you do so to the good and glory of God, you will enjoy
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God's world the way that God has always intended you to.
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God gives us the responsibility to work because in so doing, our life mirrors God's life.
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God created the world through his work, Genesis 2, 1 through 3.
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Jesus told the Jews, my father is working up until now and I'm working, John chapter
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5 and verse 17.
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And when we engage in God honoring work, Paul says in Colossians 3, 23, whatever you do,
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work heartily as to the Lord and not unto men because you serve the Lord Christ.
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When we engage in work that way, we mirror God's creative genius and we enjoy God's world
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the way that he wants us to.
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Pew Research did some study and they found out that most Americans don't really enjoy
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their work at all.
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In fact, if you talk to people, you know, you just say, hey, how's your job going?
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Most people may have something negative to say.
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And the research, Pew Research found out 50% of people said their job is just something
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they do and the people could get on without them.
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Fifteen percent of the people they surveyed viewed their job or their employment as merely
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a stepping stone to the next thing.
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And 35% said it's just transactional, I'm just doing what needs to be done.
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And maybe you view work that way and if that's the case, it may be a key indicator into your
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unhappiness and dissatisfaction because work is not transactional merely in the Bible.
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It's a key to how God says you're human.
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You're designed for good work, Ephesians 2 and verse 10.
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To do your own work, to eat your own bread and to work out your existence, 1 Thessalonians
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4, 11 through 12.
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And a failure to work, a desire to say I just can't wait until I'm doing absolutely nothing
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is not what humans were designed for.
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You'll enjoy God's work, God's world, God's way when you learn to enjoy the work that
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you do.
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And I think it's impressive as you read the Bible, God doesn't hold up any one career.
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Have you noticed that?
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God doesn't really care if you clean toilets or try cases.
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He doesn't care if you're a doctor or a dentist, a plumber or a professor.
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God doesn't honor white-collar work over blue-collar work.
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The Bible's story is not so much concerned as what you do for a living, but how you do
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for a living.
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And so Paul can say in Ephesians 6 and verse 8, you should be working as if you're working
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for the Lord.
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Ephesians 6 and verse 6, we're serving the Lord Christ in everything you do.
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You're saying to God, I'm furthering your purpose in creation.
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And to that degree, you'll enjoy the world.
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An HR software platform surveyed 57,000 employees, 1,600 companies over six months.
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And they found out, at least in this survey, that the career, at least among those that
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they surveyed, they came back with the most positive reviews of people saying that they
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enjoyed their work was the work of construction workers.
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They said that this was the case because construction workers responded to the survey by saying,
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We love being able to immediately see the fruit of our labor.
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Now, my next construction job will be my first one.
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I don't know anything about it, but here's what I know.
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According to Solomon, every one of us is engaged in fruitful work.
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And you can enjoy God's world, God's way, when you start to see your work in a healthy
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way.
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When you start to say, my work develops me, but it doesn't define me, Psalm 127 and verse
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1.
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When you stop expecting work always and only to be easy and enjoyable, but to realize that
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in the rigor, there's a blessing, Proverbs 14 and verse 23, in all labor there's profit.
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And when you view your work, whatever it is, as a craft and say to yourself, and whatever
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vocation you find yourself, I want to get better, I want to develop, and I want to excel.
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When you start seeing it that way, you'll see there's a blessing, Proverbs 22 and verse
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29, see a man excellent in his business, this man will stand before kings, he won't stand
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before obscure people.
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When you drive Uber, or you're a stay-at-home mom, or you're retired and you merely tend
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to the matters in your home, whether you're a teacher or you're a nurse, God's message
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to you and to me is this, you will enjoy my world in the way that I would have you to
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desire it, when you start enjoying your work.
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When you work for the good and glory of me in the world, and you see your contribution
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really does matter.
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When you see it mirrors my work in the world, and when you learn to do your work with a
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smile on your face, and when you learn to take pleasure in it.
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You can enjoy God's world, God's way, when you enjoy your food and your drink.
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Several times in these joyful passages in the book of Ecclesiastes, linked to the work
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that you engage in, the job that you do, Solomon says, there's nothing better, he says this
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in chapter 8 and verse 15, there's nothing better for a person than they should work
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and then eat and drink and enjoy their labor under the sun.
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In chapter 9 and verse 7, he says, eat your food and drink your beverage, drink your wine
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because God has already approved you doing this and approves what you do.
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Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, there's this idea that work and also the enjoyment
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of what God's given you for sustenance is designed to help you enjoy the world in the
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way that God would have you to.
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This goes back again to the beginning of the Bible.
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In Genesis 129, Moses writes, God's speaking to Adam and Eve, he says, I've given you every
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seed of every tree for your edification and good.
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I know we read the first three chapters of the Bible, and the first thing we think about
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is the forbidden tree, but notice how God says it to Adam.
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Of all the trees of the garden, you may freely eat, Genesis 2, 16, with the one prohibition.
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When Noah walks off the ark in Genesis chapter 9 and verse 3, God says, I've given you every
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creature and every living thing for your good.
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I don't know how you view your relationship to food and to sustenance, but here's what
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we know.
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It's one of the ways that God says to you that the person that's most interested in
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sovereigning your life wants your life not only to be that which can keep going and your
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existence to continue, but that which can flourish and be tasty and enjoyable along
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the way.
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And the Bible touches on this in so many places.
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Paul says, everything created by God is good and nothing to be refused if it's received
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with thanksgiving and is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, 1 Timothy 4, 4-5.
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Jesus would pronounce all foods clean in Mark chapter 7 and verse 19.
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And here Solomon is saying, one of the ways to learn to enjoy the world, the way that
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God would have you to, is to have a proper relationship with your food and your sustenance.
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Just appreciate the fact that you're blessed and what it says to you about the God who's
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blessing you as you enjoy it.
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And Paul's second recorded sermon in the book of Acts, in Acts 14, he's in Lystra and in
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Acts 14 and verse 17, he's talking to people that don't believe in God, pagan people that
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don't believe in the God of the Bible.
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And one of the ways he tries to convince them about the goodness of God is through this
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point.
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In Acts 14 and verse 17, he says, God did not leave himself without a witness.
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He did good.
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He gave us rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
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Don't read over that too quickly.
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According to Paul, the food can lead to the gladness.
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He's given us all things richly to enjoy, 1 Timothy 6 and verse 17.
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And if you want to enjoy God's world in the way that God designed it, you've got to learn
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to enjoy your food and your drink.
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Bobby Jameson in his book on Ecclesiastes says that food is God's love wrapped up and
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makes it nutritious and delicious.
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And it's a way of saying about God's love that life is a gift and life is good.
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Don't wink at this promise.
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Don't wink at this blessing.
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Don't mock or scoff at this.
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You might be thinking to yourself, Haram, I'm suffering terribly right now.
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Do you mean to tell me from the book of Ecclesiastes that one of the ways to enjoy my life is to
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simply eat a good meal and drink a nice beverage?
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Is that the only way to really enjoy life?
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How is that going to help me because I'm in the throes of suffering or just discontent
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or unhappiness?
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And I would say to you, Solomon's not saying that food and drink remove hardship or difficulty,
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but they sustain you in it.
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Not merely keeping you and me alive through what we eat and what we drink, but it's a
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literal and daily way of tasting and seeing that God is good, Psalm 34 and verse 8.
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Somebody else might be internally resisting this and saying to themselves, you know, I
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thought Christianity was heavier than this.
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Food and drink, this sounds like the prosperity gospel to me, but just keep in mind that God,
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who is the king of spirituality, is commanding this himself and telling you not only to engage
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in it, but also to enjoy it.
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Beware of trying to be more spiritual than God.
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You're always going to fail.
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Genesis 1 and verse 31, God says that all that he made in creation is very good.
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And then somebody else comes along and says, well, I don't really have time to sit down
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and savor a meal.
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I'm more of a fast food, just run and eat on the go type of person.
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And I would say to that, I feel you, Brother Egg McMuffin, I understand that.
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But at the very same time, that may be your problem.
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Because food is designed to pause us.
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Food is designed, the meals are designed to slow us down and allow us to taste and savor
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the goodness of God in creation.
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God promised Israel, this is what's going to happen when you get to the promised land
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in Deuteronomy 10 and verse 8.
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You'll live in these houses you didn't build, you'll eat from trees you didn't plant,
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and you will taste and see that I'm good.
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Jesus said, the Son of Man came eating and drinking, Matthew 11 and verse 19.
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It's amazing.
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His first miracle was performed at a wedding.
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In Cana of Galilee, he turned water into wine.
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Countless times, he broke bread with the disciples.
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In John 6, 1 through 12, he commemorated his death with a meal,
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Matthew Mark 14, 20 through 22, and cooked breakfast for his very best friends,
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even after he was raised from the dead, John 21, 9 through 14.
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If you notice, this idea of food trucks, they're starting to pop up everywhere.
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We watch shows that have people cooking and making meals.
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If you go to restaurants, you see people taking pictures of their food.
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That's not an accident.
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That's by design.
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We enjoy it, we savor it.
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And it's God communicating to us through the sustenance that he provides,
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your life is good.
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And even in a dark and sinful world, you have my permission to taste and to enjoy.
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Here's number three, accept your portion.
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Three times in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says,
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one of the ways to enjoy God's world, God's way, is to accept your lot
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or your portion.
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In all of these texts, he talks about the food, he talks about the drink.
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And then he says, this is a man's portion or a person's lot from God.
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And then in chapter 9 and verse 9, he says, all of your life is a lot
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or a portion, a section from God.
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If you start reading your Bible at the beginning, and you work through the law
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of Moses, and you get to the historical books like Joshua,
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you're going to see this idea of a portion or a lot typically referring
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to a piece of land.
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In Numbers chapter 18 and verse 20, Joshua 17 and verse 2, and really the end,
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the back end of the book of Joshua, the different tribes are given different
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allotments of land.
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But what Solomon says is he uses this idea of a portion or a lot in his book is,
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this isn't about a piece of land, it's about a person's life.
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And if you want to enjoy God's world, God's way, you've got to accept
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your portion.
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And there's a difficulty to obey this one, number three,
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because deep down inside, you might start eyeing somebody else's portion.
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Or you might get your eyes up ahead to the future and think,
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my life's really going to be good when I get to that portion of it.
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But Solomon cautions us through these texts, and he says, not so fast.
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Stop delaying and start delighting.
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Listen to the stubborn refusal of Psalm 118 and verse 24.
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The psalmist says, this is the day that the Lord has made,
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I will rejoice and be glad in it.
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What is that about?
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It's about saying, this is the portion that God's given me today,
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and I'm going to be glad in it.
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You want to enjoy God's world, God's way.
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You don't have to wait till you get to heaven to do it.
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All you have to do is say, you know what, I'm going to accept my portion right now
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as it stands.
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This is about stop lusting for the life that you don't have and start loving the
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one that you do have.
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Hebrews 13 and verse 5, the Hebrew writer says, let your heart be free
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from the love of money and be content with such things as you currently have.
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It's about saying, I'm content with my lot and my portion right now.
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The Bible encourages advancement and promotion, and to the degree that those
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things can be yours, you should strive toward that end.
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But you've got to accept your portion.
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And one of the lies of the modern world is you can always advance yourself,
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you can always expand your portfolio.
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But listen, Solomon did a lot of experiments, and he's telling you and he's
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telling me, your life's going to be better.
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You're going to enjoy God's world.
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When you learn to appreciate and cultivate the spiritual discipline
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of acceptance, a portion or a lot by very virtue of the name is a limitation.
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It means this is all that you get.
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Just think about going to a restaurant and you look at the menu and you order
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some food.
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They bring it out.
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And how many times have you said this to yourself?
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That's a pretty small what?
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That's a pretty small portion.
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I thought I was getting more.
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Here's what happens in that moment for sure, though.
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That's all they give you.
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It doesn't matter.
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That's what came out of the kitchen.
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You might have wanted more, wished for more, hoped for more.
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You can even order more later.
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But that portion is all that you get.
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Solomon's saying, your life is like that.
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You might be saying to yourself in this season of life, I thought I'd be further
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along, I thought I'd be healthier, happier, making more money.
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And God, the chef of all things, has brought the order out of the kitchen.
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And he's saying, this is your portion.
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And you will know joy in this world if you learn to simply accept it.
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But this isn't passive.
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This means you've got to nurture and cultivate your portion.
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Seeds that you don't sow won't grow.
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Relationships that you don't develop won't cultivate.
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Talents and gifts and abilities that you don't sharpen, they won't improve.
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But you've got to learn to accept your portion.
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Matthew 25, 14 through 30, we read about the parable of the talents.
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And the one talent man, he terribly stewarded his.
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And God's saying to us, I want you to properly handle yours.
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Social media is not the devil.
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But it's close.
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No, I'm joking.
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It's not the devil.
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It's a neutral commodity, really.
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It's based on how the person uses it.
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It's based on the development of the person that chooses to use it.
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But here's one thing about social media.
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No matter how good you are at using it or choose not to use it,
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it is one of the things in our society that
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pushes us toward the brink of ignoring the inspired language of Ecclesiastes.
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Because social media, really technology on the whole,
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is constantly pushing us to peer into other people's lots.
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You eat your dinner.
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You enjoy your meal.
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And then all of a sudden, oh, look at this gourmet meal that she had.
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She's even got a leaf on her plate.
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I didn't have that.
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Oh, your life's just going great.
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You're so happy for the day that you're about to engage.
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And then all of a sudden, you open this app,
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and this person's in Europe again.
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And I'm just stuck here.
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You thought that your life was going so good.
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You were so pleased and so happy.
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You just redecorated your house.
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And now everybody all of a sudden has abandoned the farmhouse style,
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and you're stuck with all of this stuff, and you're disappointed.
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And the problem is, and what Solomon would say to us is this,
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beware of peering in other people's lots.
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Your life, you can enjoy God's world, God's way,
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if you simply accept what God has given you.
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A sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy
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is the rottenness of the bones, Proverbs 14 and verse 30.
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And whether you have social media or not,
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this is a temptation to look across the fence at what other people have.
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Solomon says, God's given you a portion.
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God's given you a lot, and you may want it developed,
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and you may wish it were better.
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But here's what he says, you can always control.
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Your desire to simply embrace it, accept it, and when you do that,
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you'll be enjoying life just the way that God wants you to.
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Here's number four, enjoy relationships.
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This isn't on a lot of people's lists.
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What Solomon says in chapter 9 and verse 9, he says,
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if you want to enjoy life, he says, rejoice with the wife
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who you love all the days of your life,
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for this is the reason for your toil and the labor in which you work.
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Throughout the Bible, marriage is seen as a blessing from God
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and as that which is really the crown of human relationships.
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Adam was doing fine in the garden, but in Genesis 2.18,
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God says, it's not good for man to be alone.
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I make him a helper suitable for him.
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Adam could have said, God, it's me and you,
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and God says, me and you are close, Adam,
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but you need embodied relationship and companionship.
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A prudent wife is from the Lord, Proverbs 19 and verse 14.
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He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord,
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Proverbs 18 and verse 22.
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An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, Proverbs 12 and verse 4.
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And Solomon says, listen, a man that's been married more than once,
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that's seen relationships go completely terrible, he says,
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if you want to enjoy life, you want to get your relationships right.
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And he explicitly mentions the marital one.
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But that's not all.
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In Ecclesiastes 4.9 through 12, early on in the book,
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he cuts off this lone wolf approach to life.
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And he says, two are better than one,
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because they have a good reward for their labor.
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If one falls down, another can help him up.
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If one's cold, they can keep each other warm.
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And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
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He says, if you want to enjoy God's world, God's way,
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embrace and enjoy human relationships.
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And if you just think about this, just zoom out from Ecclesiastes
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for a moment and think about, OK, I want my life to be satisfactory.
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I want to enjoy God's world.
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I want to enjoy my existence.
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Just zoom out for one minute and think about the person and work of Jesus.
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Jesus came to this world to die for the sins of humanity,
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according to his own testimony in Matthew 26, 28.
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On the night Jesus was going to do this,
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there came a point in Jesus's life where what Jesus would have to do,
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in order to glorify God, he would have to do all by himself.
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Nobody else would be able to stand in for him and do it.
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He would have to fulfill the prophecies and die all alone, all by himself.
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And eventually, he did that.
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But you've got to be thinking, in the four inspired biographies,
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, why didn't Jesus then just come to this world,
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do his business, and get out of here?
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Why make friends?
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And at that, why make 12 close friends, knowing one of them is going to betray you?
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Because Jesus didn't just come to this world to teach us how to die.
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He came to this world also to teach us how to live.
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Jesus didn't just come into this world and say, you know what?
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I'm just here to do my business and get out.
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But how many times do we think we're better than Jesus?
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How many times do we come into this assembly and say,
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I'm just going to do my business, and I'm getting out?
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More than the assembly, sometimes we do life that way.
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I'm just here to do my business.
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I'm going to serve God, and I'm going to get out.
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Jesus didn't even approach life that way because he said, I've got to be fully human.
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And in order to be a full human being, I've got to learn to enjoy and embrace relationships.
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What does this mean?
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It means love your spouse like God says.
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Submit, honor, treat one another properly, Ephesians 5, 22 to 25.
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Dwell with each other like those that are heirs together of the grace of life.
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So that your divine communication isn't hindered, 1 Peter 3 and verse 7.
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Dip deeply and richly into friendships that God's blessed you with because a friend loves
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at all times, and a brother is born for adversity, Proverbs 27 and verse 17.
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You want to enjoy God's world the way that God designed it.
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Start enjoying the relationships that God's blessed you with right around you.
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Here's number five, trust the seasons.
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This is probably the most famous part of the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3,
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this section on the time in verses 1 through 13.
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If you never knew anything about Ecclesiastes, you probably have seen this
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on a greeting card or on some sort of picture, this idea that to everything,
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there's a time, a season, and a purpose under heaven.
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And it's interesting that in this section, Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 13,
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one of the things that Solomon says in verse 11 is God has put eternity into our hearts.
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How does God get us ready for eternity though?
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According to Solomon, he does it through training us with time,
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getting us prepared to embrace our limits through time and to be the people that he
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wants us to be.
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If you want to enjoy God's world in the way that God would have you to,
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learn to trust the seasons.
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Look, let your eyes just scan down through Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 8,
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and just notice how many times these different seasons of life have been true
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for you, often coming and flowing into your life unannounced.
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A time to be born, a time to die.
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He talks about a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
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Solomon says, you want to enjoy life?
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You can write this right at the top of Ecclesiastes 3 if you're writing your
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Bible.
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A part of enjoying God's world, God's way is this, learning to answer this question,
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do I know how to tell time?
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Because according to this passage, suffering, hardship, and good times,
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neither of the two last as long as we sometimes think, but you could be confused.
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You could see difficulty in your life as sort of crawling by and good times as sort
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of quickly sprinting by, and Solomon says, don't believe that.
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He says, I want you to look at this passage and know that both have flowed
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into your life.
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You've known blessing and cursing, love and hate, good and evil,
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weeping and laughter, mourning and dancing.
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And he says, you enjoy God's world, God's way, if you just simply learn that life
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has this sort of ebb and flow.
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Look at verse 12.
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He says, do good and just enjoy life knowing that life ebbs and flows.
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If you want to enjoy God's world, God's way, you've got to learn that.
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That means as you read Ecclesiastes 3, 1 through 8, if you're on the hard side
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of these passages, I mean, if you're on the refraining part, the weeping,
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if the mourning is your current state in life based on Ecclesiastes 3,
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here's what you got to know.
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Somebody says, how can I be joyful in that?
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You can look on the other side of the page and say, my joy is currently downloading.
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It really won't be long.
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And if you're on the other side and things are going really good for you,
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you've got to know that one day soon, you may be on the other side.
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And so, you should let loose with both hands and fully enjoy the present season.
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Jesus says, in the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
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John 16, 33, let loose with both hands because difficulty will come.
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In the season finale of The Office, Andy Bernard, you remember this quote?
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He says, I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've
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actually left them.
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This quote is both helpful and haunting because it says to you and me that the
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days that you might be taking for granted just might be the days that one day you
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lie awake at night wishing you could give a hundred lifetimes like this one to go
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back and enjoy.
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Listen, the past is not given to us by God for nostalgia.
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It's designed to say, you remember how that went?
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You've been on vacation with family and friends.
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You've read a good book, enjoyed a good movie, and then all of a sudden said
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to yourself, oh, man, I've come to the end of it.
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That's supposed to prepare you for the next time and say, the next time you're in
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a moment of joy, let loose and fully enjoy it with both hands because you know it'll
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go quickly.
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And lest anybody have any doubts or questions, Solomon would say,
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these are the good old days.
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He says, don't say to yourself the former days are better than these.
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You don't inquire wisely concerning this, Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 10.
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Enjoying God's world, God's way means trusting the seasons.
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Here's number six, rejoicing youth.
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Ecclesiastes 11, 9, and 10, he says, rejoicing your youth.
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He says, set your eyes and your heart on the right things.
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He does include judgment, but he says, I want you to be a person that learns to
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rejoice, oh, young man, in your youth and delight in the heart of your eyes.
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It's interesting.
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This is the great balance that the book of Ecclesiastes strikes.
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The same book that says in chapter 12 and verse 1, remember now your creator in the
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days of your youth also says to young people, you have God's full permission to
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fully enjoy being a young person, to fully embrace it, and you'll enjoy God's world,
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God's way if you don't apologize for it, but you make the most of it.
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Studies are saying that young people today, depression's always been a thing.
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I don't know if there's more depression or if people are just tracking it and
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noticing it more, but here's what I know.
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They say about one in five teenagers will have a major depressive episode today by
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the time they're 17, and they say there's several reasons for this.
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Academic stressors, social media, and too much time on screens, and then they talk
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about just social isolation as a whole.
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Not a therapist or a psychologist, but the journal articles in the books
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consistently say one of the major reasons for this is young people today are being
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trained and taught by parents and by those in academics to take life far too seriously.
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There's so much pressure to always look your best and be your best and always be
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in tip-top shape, and some of the solutions that they offer to young people are
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creative things like, hey, you ought to write something down every day,
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start finding something to do with your hands, get away from your phones,
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go outside, read a book.
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I was being sarcastic when I said it's creative.
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It's not creative.
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It's very simple.
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They're simply saying, hey, you should just let loose and enjoy life.
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Listen to the old prophet from Chuck E. Cheese, where a kid can be a kid, right?
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Or just listen to Solomon from 1,000 BC when he says, rejoice,
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oh, young man, in your youth.
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It means that you should learn to let loose with both hands.
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You should say to your children and grandchildren, I'm going to just enjoy
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this season of life wherever I find them right now because they nor I will ever be
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this young again, and making the most of what's right in front of you.
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Solomon says, one day you'll have your permit, but enjoy riding in the backseat
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for now.
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One day, you will live on your own and have all the bills and all the
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responsibility, but for now, enjoy being cared for.
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One day, you won't be in school, but enjoy, give yourself permission to enjoy
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your high school graduation, your college graduation, fully embrace being a freshman
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in high school or in college.
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It's nothing to be ashamed of.
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It's nothing to apologize for.
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The Bible doesn't commission us to remain immature all of our lives,
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but it does say childhood and youth is a blessing from God.
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And it's not just something to endure, but it's actually something to fully
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embrace and enjoy.
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Here's the last one.
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Solomon says, receive life as a gift.
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Enjoying God's world, God's way means you receive life as a gift.
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And in every one of the passages we've looked at, especially chapter 2,
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24 through 25, Solomon says this very thing.
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He says, your life is a gift from the hand of God.
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And in verse 25, he doubles down and says, apart from him,
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no one can have food or any type of enjoyment.
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You want to enjoy God's world, God's way, see life as a gift.
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That's not a metaphor.
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Literally, God is the giver and you and I are the free recipients.
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And if you view life as a gift, something that God has freely bestowed
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on us that we don't deserve, you will start to enjoy it.
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When you start looking at the sun shining, beautiful things in creation and saying
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to yourself, I don't deserve any of this, but God has freely gifted it to me,
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you will enjoy the world the way God always designed for people to do so.
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But if you come at life from the standpoint of ownership more than stewardship,
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you'll figure it out in your mind some way that all circumstances, weather,
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traffic, and people must always go your way.
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If you live your life that way, you will be consistently irritated
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and frustrated.
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Creation does not exist to do your bidding.
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You're not God.
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And if you accept my life is simply a gift, and sometimes people disappoint
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and frustrate, but in all of these things, God's gifted me to be here.
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In all of these passages, Solomon links joy with God because he is
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the true essence of it.
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C.S. Lewis asked the young boy what his thoughts were about God and the young boy
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responded by saying, in my mind, God's the kind of person that looks
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out into the world and looks to see if he sees anybody having fun so that he
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can stop it.
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And that kind of thinking leads you to extreme number one.
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You say, if I really want to enjoy life, I've got to get as far away from this
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Christianity and Bible stuff as I can as quickly as I can.
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And Solomon's saying, if you run out of his presence, you'll never know joy.
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He is gladness, joy, and happiness.
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And the only reason why any of it has ever come into your life is because he's
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gifted it to you.
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In his light, we see light, Psalm 36 and verse 9, and he says,
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you can enjoy it.
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God wants us to enjoy the world, avoid sin and unrighteousness,
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but also to enjoy the world in the way that he's called for us to do so.
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The last two verses in Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, this is the conclusion
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when all has been heard.
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Fear God, keep his commands, for this is man's all.
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God will bring every work into the judgment with every secret thing,
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whether it be good or evil.
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In the end, you'll enjoy God's world, God's way.
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When you start looking at God properly, have a proper relationship to him and all
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of his creation, and don't fast forward any scenes in your life,
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any blessings that God gives, but to fully embrace them even in this
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world of darkness.
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We often sing this song, and it's true.
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This world is not your home.
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That's true.
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But all the good in this world is thoroughly reminiscent of the world
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you're heading to.
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The only thing wrong with this world is sin, and one day when God deals
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with it, all will be made well.
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But the message from Ecclesiastes is, you don't have to wait till then
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to enjoy it.
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The greatest gift God's ever given us is salvation.
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And if you need to cash in and take advantage of that this morning,
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we'd be happy to let you do that.
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If you believe Jesus is the son of God, you're ready to repent of your sins
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and confess him as Lord before this audience.
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We'd be happy to immerse you in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
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Acts 2 and verse 38 says, all of your sins will be forgiven.
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He'll gift you with the Holy Spirit.
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And Romans 6, 4 says, you'll rise to walk in newness of life and then enjoy God's
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world, God's way until you get to the new one.
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If we can pray with you or pray for you, let us know how we can help as together
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we stand and as we sing.