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June 18 - Ecclesiastes 12 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here it is Tuesday.
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  It's the 18th of June and you have tapped on play.
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  Good day. Hello.
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  Thank you. Well done and good on you.
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  Great to have your company. We are today going to round out
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  the smartest book of the Bible. That's right, today we are going
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  to finish reading Ecclesiastes, which has to be the wisest book
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  of the Bible, right? It has to be the book because it
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  is filled with so many big questions that make even the
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  wisest people throughout history scratched their heads and say,
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  Yep, I got nothing. Yeah.
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  And that is where we have been. And today we will hear the final
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  concluding thoughts from the teacher and that they do not
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  wrap everything up neatly with a little bow on top and say, there
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  you go, I've sorted it all out for you and basically say, well,
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  I'm not going to tell you what they say.
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  We're going to read it together. And I'm going to let him tell it
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  to you in his own words. But this is this book of wisdom
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  that has been passed down through the generations,
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  captured, refined, and brought to us all by God's design so
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  that we can ponder these in the light of His glory and His love
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  for us. How wonderful.
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  What a privilege we have to be able to do that.
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  So with that all said and done, come friends, let's read
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  together Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
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  Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your
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  Creator. Honour Him in your youth before
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  you grow old and say life is not pleasant anymore.
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  Remember him before the light of the sun, moon and stars is
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  dimmed to your old eyes and rain clouds continually darken your
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  sky. Remember him before your legs,
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  the guards of your house start to tremble, and before your
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  shoulders the strong men stoop. Remember him before your teeth,
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  your few remaining servants stop grinding, and before your eyes
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  the women looking through the windows see dimly.
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  Remember him before the door to life's opportunities is closed
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  and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first
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  chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow
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  faint. Remember him before you become
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  fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets.
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  Before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom and
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  you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and
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  the caper Berry no longer inspires sexual desire.
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  Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home,
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  when the mourners will weep at your funeral.
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  Yes, remember your Creator now, while you are young.
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  Before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is
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  broken. Don't wait until the water jar
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  is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well,
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  for then the dust will return to the earth and the Spirit will
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  return to God who gave it. Everything is meaningless, says
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  the teacher. Completely meaningless.
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  Keep this in mind. The teacher was considered wise,
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  and he taught the people everything he knew.
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  He listened carefully to many Proverbs, studying and
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  classifying them. The teacher sought to find just
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  the right words to express truths clearly.
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  The words of the wise are like cattle prods, painful but
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  helpful. The collected sayings are like a
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  nail studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.
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  That my child, let me give you some further advice.
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  Be careful, for writing books is endless and much study wears you
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  out. That's the whole story here.
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  Now is my final conclusion. Fear God and obey His commands,
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  for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything
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  we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
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  Lord, here we are, your children, whom you love, Him you
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  forgive, whom you draw close to. You help us always to live as
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  the Teacher says, fearing You, but not with fear in our hearts,
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  but with reverence in our hearts that we would always continue to
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  place You on the throne of our life.
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  And everything we do is for Your glory, not our own.
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  Because chasing our own glory, Lord, is meaningless.
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  Endless study is wearisome and meaningless.
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  Endless toil is not what you want from us.
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  You want our devotion, our attention, and our lives lived
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  in worship to You, our glorious, glorious and most worthy God.
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  So here we are. Here we are your people, and we
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  love you, and we offer ourselves to you as a living sacrifice
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  today and every day, and we are able to come to you and pray
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  these things in your presence. Thanks to everything that Jesus
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  has done for us. So we pray this in his saving
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  name, I mean.