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June 12 - Ecclesiastes 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's shown here.
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  It is the 12th of June, that's a Wednesday and you have invited
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  me into your day. Thanks for doing that.
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  Thank you for this opportunity that you and I can sit down
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  together or whatever you are doing, whether you're walking,
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  running, lying, driving, that we can come together and read
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  another chapter of God's word. And ah, I hope you've been
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  enjoying Ecclesiastes as much as I have.
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  It is this big, old, confusing, deep, navel gazing book of the
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  Bible that asks these colossal questions that often bobble
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  around in our heads and we push it to the side because, well, we
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  don't have time and space to deal with the questions this big
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  normally. But here we are taking that
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  time. And one of the things that's
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  really stood out to me as we read it in the last couple of
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  weeks is that talk around death, about realising our own
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  mortality. As hard as death is for us, it
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  really does sharpen the important things and bring them
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  into focus. I have the privilege of working
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  and leading A-Team who works in palliative care, and we spend
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  time with people in that last chapter of their life.
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  And I find that whenever I've spent time facing death, the
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  death of others around me or supporting families through
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  death, I'm always amazed how the trivial things seem to wash away
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  and the big things, well, they get brought back into the
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  limelight. And today we are going to talk
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  more about death because that is what wise people do apparently.
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  And so as we do this, this is a moment for us to put down the
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  business of our hearts, put down the to do lists of our days, the
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  beautiful view in front of us, the campiness of our chairs or
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  the coal that's around us, or whatever it is that would draw
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  our attention away. And just to bring our hearts
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  open, open to the wisdom of our God that he would share with us.
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  All right, friends, let's do it. Let us read together
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  Ecclesiastes Chapter 9. This too I carefully explored.
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  Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God's
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  hands, no one knows whether God will show them favour.
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  The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether
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  righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or
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  unclean, religious or irreligious.
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  Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people
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  that make promises to God are treated like people who don't.
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  It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same
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  fate, already twisted by evil. People choose their own mad
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  course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death
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  anyway. There is hope only for the
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  living. As they say, it's better to be
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  alive dog than a dead lion. The living at least know they
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  will die, but the dead know nothing.
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  They have no further award, nor are they remembered whatever
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  they did in their lifetime. Loving, hating, envying is all
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  gone. They no longer play a part in
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  anything here on Earth. So go ahead, eat your food with
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  joy and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of
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  this. We're fine clothes, but a splash
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  of Cologne. Live happily with the woman you
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  love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given
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  you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your
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  reward for all your earthly toil.
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  Whatever you do, do well, for when you go to the grave, there
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  will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
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  I have observed everything else under the sun.
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  The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the
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  strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle.
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  The wives sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not
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  necessarily wealthy, and those who are educated don't always
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  lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by
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  being in the right place at the right time.
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  People can never predict when hard times might come.
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  Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by
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  sudden tragedy. Here is another bit of wisdom
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  that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.
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  There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king
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  came with his army and besieged it.
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  A poor wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued,
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  but afterward no one thought to thank him.
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  So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are
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  wise will be despised if they are poor.
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  What they say will not be appreciated for long.
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  Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts
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  of a foolish king. Better to have wisdom than
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  weapons of war, but one Sinner can destroy much that is good.
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  Our Lord, as we go through each day of our lives, what a
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  blessing to us it is to be your children.
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  To know that even though sometimes the big questions seem
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  impossible to answer, we know that each day we are held in
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  your loving hand. That you have not forsaken us to
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  the coldness of the universe, destined to be alone and to die.
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  But you have given us Jesus, You've given us your dear Son,
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  so that we would know who you are, that we would understand
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  your character, which is a character of love and
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  forgiveness, ever drawing us back into your embrace.
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  So each day as we take the steps that we need to to get through
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  our days, just always remind us that no matter what it feels
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  like to be living our days, we can always have that blessed
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  assuredness that we are loved, that we are chosen.
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  That we live in the warmth of your love, not the icy cold void
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  of space of despair. Thank you help us to feel that
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  warmth, for that to colour our days and our interactions with
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  others, that we can represent your Kingdom of grace, love and
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  presence. And thank you for Jesus.
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  Thank you for all He taught us and that He saved us so that we
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  can pray these prayers in His name.
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  Oh man.