Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / June 11 - Ecclesiastes 8

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June 11 - Ecclesiastes 8 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's shown here. It is Tuesday, it's the 10th of
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  June and you have tapped on play.
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  Good on you. Hello friend, good to have you
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  company. I'm going to shut my eyes and
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  imagine you there. Good to see you hear you are
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  listening to this podcast. I wonder what your day looks
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  like. Is it a big one as you get back
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  into the work week? Is it a quiet one that you're
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  going to sneak away from the world and just enjoy some space
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  and time? Or is this just a day that
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  you're on autopilot? So far, wherever you are,
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  whatever the go is so good. So good that you have chosen to
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  take a moment so that you and I together can come before our
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  gracious God and hear what words He has to inspire, to challenge,
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  to teach, to draw near to us, and to share something of
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  Himself with us. Hey, what a treat, what a treat,
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  and what a treat to have your company doing that, all of you
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  as you have joined in together. We are not isolated people, but
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  we come before our God with friends both near and far, and
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  that's exactly what we'll do. Alright, let us read together
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  Ecclesiastes chapter 8. How wonderful to be wise to
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  analyse and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person's
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  face, softens its harshness. Obey the king since you vowed to
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  God that you would, don't try to avoid doing your duty, and don't
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  stand with those who plot evil. For the king can do whatever he
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  wants. His command is backed by great
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  power. No one can resist or question
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  it. Those who obey him will not be
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  punished. Those who are wise will find a
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  time and a way to do what is right.
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  For there is a time and a way for everything, even when a
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  person is in trouble. Indeed, how can people avoid
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  what they don't know is going to happen?
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  None of us can hold back our spirit from departing.
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  None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death.
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  There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle.
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  And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not
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  rescue the wicked. I've thought deeply about all
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  that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to
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  hurt each other. I've seen wicked people buried
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  with honour, yet they were the very ones who frequented the
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  temple and are now praised in the same city where they
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  committed their crimes. This, too, is meaningless.
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  When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel that it's
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  safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins
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  100 times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear
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  God will be better off. The wicked will not prosper, for
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  they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long
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  like the evening shadows. And this is not all that is
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  meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are
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  often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people
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  are often treated as though they were good.
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  This is so meaningless, so I recommend having fun because
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  there is nothing better for people in this world than to
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  eat, drink and enjoy life. That way they will experience
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  some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them
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  under the sun. In my search for wisdom and in
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  my observation of people's burdens here on earth, I
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  discovered that there is ceaseless activity day and
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  night. I realised that no one can
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  discover everything God is doing under the sun.
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  Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter
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  what they claim. Ah, Lord, there's so much in
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  this chapter for us. Our life is hard.
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  Sometimes it feels like the relentless demands on us just do
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  not cease. And here the author of
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  Ecclesiastes says, yes, there is just ceaseless work to be done,
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  but in the midst of that work that we must remember to stop
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  and enjoy the beautiful things that you give us in our lives.
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  Opportunities for friendship, for relationship, for good food
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  and good fun. Well, thank you for these
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  things. Help us not to be so heavily
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  burdened with life that we can't stop and just lift our eyes to
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  you. And thank you for the wonderful
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  things that you give to us in our lives and that we can
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  acknowledge you as the author of those good things.
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  So thank you, Lord, thank you for our lives, for the
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  opportunity to do all the things that you give us an opportunity
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  to do, for the difference we can make, for the love we can share,
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  for the order and the good we can bring.
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  You are so generous to include us in your Kingdom's work.
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  Thank you and thank you for the blessings you give us.
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  And the biggest blessing of all is your Son Jesus.
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  And we pray all of this in His name, Amen.