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June 5 - Ecclesiastes 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:12
  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Wednesday.
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  It is the 5th of June and I'm so glad that you've tapped on play.
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  Hello, hello, hello. You know how the people we love
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  are into things that we are much less into, and because they're
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  into it, you're kind of into it as well as you support them and
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  get involved at their site. Well, such is my relationship
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  with fishing. I grew up in a family where
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  everyone else loved fishing and I really did it because I didn't
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  like eat it and didn't like to touch them and I didn't like to
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  catch them and spend a day standing around trying to catch
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  them. But now I find myself the father
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  of three boys, the youngest of whom is just loving fishing.
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  And so my relationship with fishing continues.
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  And these days I can find more joy in the process of fishing
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  because it's not just my joy, but it's his as well, which is
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  awesome. And today, did you realise, is
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  the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal,
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  Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
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  So go get your fishing licence as people if you're gonna fish
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  in freshwater rivers. And there is a world of
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  information online about the things that we can do to make
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  sure that we are getting our fish from sources that are
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  caring for the ocean and all of her goodness.
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  So enough with the fishiness. Let us get back to the
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  existential questions of life in Ecclesiastes.
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  Today we continue this interesting journey of pondering
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  the larger questions with this voice of wisdom from our
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  teacher. So let's do that reading
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  together. Ecclesiastes chapter 5.
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  As you enter the House of God, keep your ears open and your
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  mouth shut. It's evil to make mindless
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  offerings to God. Don't make rash promises and
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  don't be hasty in bringing matters before God.
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  After all, God is in heaven and you are here on earth.
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  So let your words be few. Too much activity gives you
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  restless dreams. Too many words make you a fool.
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  When you make a promise to God, don't delay in following
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  through, for God takes no pleasure in fools.
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  Keep all the promises you make to Him.
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  It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep
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  it. Don't let your mouth make you
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  sin, and don't defend yourself by telling the temple messenger
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  that the promise you made was a mistake that would make God
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  angry and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
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  Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities.
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  Fear God instead. Don't be surprised if you see a
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  poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is
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  being miscarried throughout the land, for every official is
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  under orders from higher up and matters of justice get lost in
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  red tape and bureaucracy. Even the king milks the land for
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  his own profit. Those who love money will never
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  have enough. How meaningless to think that
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  wealth brings true happiness. The more you have, the more
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  people come to help you spend it.
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  So what good is wealth, except perhaps to watch it slip through
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  your fingers? People who work hard sleep well,
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  whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good
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  night's sleep. There is another serious problem
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  I've seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.
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  Money is put into risky investments that turn sour and
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  everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing
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  left to pass on to one's children.
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  We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty handed
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  as on the day we were born. We can't take our riches with
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  us, and this too is a very serious problem.
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  People leave this world no better off than when they came.
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  All their hard work is for nothing, like working for the
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  wind. Throughout their lives, they
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  live under a cloud, frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
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  Even so, I've noticed one thing at least that is good.
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  It is good for people to eat, drink and enjoy their work under
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  the sun during the short life God has given them and to accept
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  their lot in life. And it is a good thing to
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  receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it, to
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  enjoy your work and accept your lot in life.
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  This is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy
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  enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
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  Our Lord, we hear in this chapter that bureaucracy is as
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  old as time itself. There is so much that we can
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  become frustrated by as we are pushing to achieve more and get
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  things done that the teacher here tells us that to toil and
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  have a hard earned sleep at night is a good thing.
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  But not in chasing after grandiose outcomes well beyond
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  our means, but to find joy in what we have and to enjoy the
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  time with those we loved. So thank you, Lord, for Your
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  truth, for your focus to live under you, our God and our
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  Provider, with those that You give us to share our lives with.
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  Draw us continually back to the here and the now, basking in our
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  relationship with you, our ever loving, ever gracious God.
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  We are so, so appreciative of you and that you would lavish
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  your love on us and all because of what Jesus has done for us.
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  So we thank you for him and pray all of this in His name, Amen.