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Join us as Solomon teaches us in Ecclesiastes that “It STINKS to Get Old”…(like we didn’t know that already!) So make sure your living & loving are God-honoring! So glad you’re with us for our Finishing Well Devo this week. I really appreciate my friends who have written some incredible “guest devotionals” the past few weeks and we have more to come as the year progresses. As we head towards the holiday of the 4th of July, rather than take another “holiday hiatus” from our “thru the Scriptures” devotional strategy, I’d rather simply say I hope we’re so grateful for the privilege to live in this country and deeply appreciate those who have served and protected our freedom TO worship rather than FROM worship. May we continue to pray for our leaders and their wisdom as we see the Day of the Lord approaching. And as we see things “heating up, may we be “standing up & looking up” as Jesus said we were to do in Luke 21:28…..”When these thing begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”. I have a good friend, Al McCoy from Danville IL who wrote a worship song years ago based on that verse, entitled, “Heaven is Comin’, Hold Your Head Up High”. One of my favorite songs and favorite people of all time. Now in looking at the teaching in the book of Ecclesiastes, it appears that Solomon may or may not have written this book. He might have had more than a few regrets than Frank Sinatra claimed to have in singing, “My Way” and might have outsourced it (an early A.I. approach) to another “Solomon-type” teacher. Now in all honesty, it really does appear from a human point to be the best “Finishing Well Devo” that could be written at that point in Biblical history. (The best overall would have to be Joshua at the end of his life saying, “As for me & my house, we will serve the Lord”.) So this book tucked away in the Old Testament is not just a sentimental look at the past. It actually warns us not to join Bruce Springsteen in singing, “Glory Days”. It’s an honest reflection of a person with an very full life who is extremely weary from the stresses, disappointments and even injustices that he has seen in life. He is, as my grandmother would say, “plum tuckered out”. Body & soul, Solomon is spent. And in poetic form, though exhausted state, he begins with a “prologue”, & ends with an“epilogue”. Now I’ve always wondered, with those “logues” at the top & bottom, what do you call the in between part of the book or speech? I know technically it’s “the body”, but let me refer to them as “learning-logues” in the middle with 2 or 3 chapters each. So here we go. A day at a time. And for some of you “Larry the Cable Guys”, go ahead and “git ‘er done” all in one shot! MONDAY…the PROLOGUE (chapters 1-2) “Pursuing LIFE w/o Pursuing GOD will always be MEANINGLESS” Solomon gets right to the point…life is meaningless. At least that’s his take on it at his present age & stage. He begins reflecting a lack of contentment, and even a boredom, indicating there’s“nothing new under the sun” (1:9). Sounds like our grandkids when their grounded from “screen time” w/no iphone or ipad to self-soothe. Well, we can’t be too hard on them. We all have a few residual bad habits! He's been on a “chase” during his life and his final thoughts suggest a spiritual truth Chuck Swindoll teaches that “pursuing life without pursuing God will ALWAYS be meaningless”! The book kicks off as very depressing, which seems contradictory after reading the wisdom he’d offered to us in Proverbs. But this is toward the end of his life, and our perspective changes after a few decades, wouldn’t you say? Some verses jump off the page, it seems. Chapter 1 ends with a contrast of “the greater my wisdom, the greater my grief”. What Solomon had pursued so intently now is coming back as not worth the amount of effort that he poured into this “privileged life” he was afforded and actually “given” by God. The whining continues in Chapter 2. He sought after every form of pleasure he could find. From laughter to wine to wisdom to foolishness. The feeling Solomon leaves us with as he starts out in the first 2 chapters would be a great launching pad for Soren Kierkegaard’s philosophy and coining of the phrase “existential anxiety”, which was a prototype for the term today FOMO (fear of missing out). The QUESTION for Today…. Have you ever felt like Solomon here in Ecclesiastes? Oh, maybe not exactly, but a strong “kind of”? Like why try? Or “who signed me up for this”? Or like Will Smith in the movie, “Hitch”, when his first date with Eva Mendes goes south and he quotably says, “somehow, I saw this going differently”! What in your life did you anticipate being more meaningful and satisfying? OK, now take your time on this one. Don’t go reactionary with an impulsive response. Haven’t we all been a bit fooled due to our culture’s exaggerated representation shaping our expectation? And when we woke up and smelled the coffee (which I ironically am at CC as we speak…shout out Alan) we began to realize, if we’re going to survive this, we have to let God TRANSFORM OUR PERSPECTIVE! What I hope we’ll get this week taking a moment thru this book is a bit of perspective. Solomon seemed to change even as he wrote the book. And may ours become a little more godly & holy with each day, with every chapter & even with every verse we read! Bless you Finishing Well Friends! We are in the AARP club with Solomon as we speak! May we hear God’s wisdom together this week! SONGS that come to mind…. “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones / “The Thrill is Gone” by B.B. King / “You Gotta Have Friends” by Bette Midler Can you add a couple more? TUESDAY…Learning-Logue #1 (chapters 3-4) “There’s a Time for Everything Under Heaven” OK, now we’re getting to some classic Ecclesiastes kind of stuff today! Nothing like chapter 3, where Solomon says that “for everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven”. That passage (3:1-8) made a great foundation for the lyrics of a song in the 60’s by The Byrds! Now if you haven’t read that for a while, take a moment to today. Birth & death, planting & harvest, killing & healing, tearing down & building up, crying & laughing, grieving & dancing, scattering & gathering, embracing & refraining, searching & quitting, keeping & tossing (oh, to become a minimalist someday), tearing & mending, being silent & speaking, loving & hating, and finally, wartime & peacetime. What an awesome list of “contrasts”! But isn’t it hard to DISCERN when each of those appropriate moments is! Kind of like the “Serenity Prayer”, which says, “Lord, grant me the grace to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”. Oh, to know the difference, Lord! Solomon proceeds with another killer verse in 3:11, stating how God has “made everything beautiful in it’s own time and has planted ETERNITY in the heart of every person”! Down deep we all know in our spirit that this life is not the end. He continues commenting on the injustice in the typical courtroom and mentions we came from dust and will return to dust. That oppression happens and you see compassion surface in his heart reflecting on the tears those folks shed, only to not have anyone to comfort them. He warns against envying neighbors and being lazy. And then he gives a tremendous illustration of companionship in mentioning how 2>1 in that one can help the other if one of them falls. They can stay a little warmer, defend a little stronger and actually a “cord of 3 strands is not easily broken”, which you might hear quoted at a wedding from time to time. There are a few more topics he refers to but for the sake of today, would you take a moment to look back at those “time for everything” verses? QUESTION for the Day…. If you had to say what time it is in your life, which season would you pick? Obviously, we’ll be doing more than one of those things at the appropriate time, but what stands out for you today? There might be something you are crying about today or maybe laughing about. Is it a time of “embracing” or “refraining” in your life? It might call for a “matching of the handshake”, which is either being warmed & greeted or being somewhat “blanked”. Those things happen, you know. What “season” is God leading you thru now? Are you listening carefully to Him? Is He saying, “gather, gather” and you’re feeling “scatter, scatter”? May we listen to His Spirit within our hearts as He prompts us in our particular season! SONGS that come to mind….. “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds / “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas WEDNESDAY…Learning-Logue #2 (chapters 5-6) “You CAN’T Take it with You & Life AIN’T Always Fair” Alright, we’re on the hump day for these “Logues”, aren’t we! Started out with everything meaningless and turns out Solomon says God has a purpose in every season of our lives if we’ll look for it! And today, we attack chapter 5-6. I love the way Solomon says our, our performance isn’t about a lot of promises, and our wealth certainly isn’t about accumulation and hoarding it all. He brings a recurring theme late in chapter 5, saying to eat, drink and enjoy your life, because it’s your “LOT IN LIFE”. Now to do a little study about that phrase, it’s derived from the language of “inheritance”. In other words, it’s a gift God has given us. Whatever health we have and job we have needs to be appreciated. And he can’t help but also mention in verse 20, to keep moving ahead and don’t take time to “brood over the past”. Chapter 6 takes another turn in his disappointment that many folks don’t get to enjoy what they worked for and a stranger reaps the benefits. So he takes some time to explore “contentment”. Some folks could live 2k years and still never get to that point of appreciation! About now I’m realizing that the reason Solomon is SAYING a lot is because he has SEEN a lot!
he then reminds us there’s no use in arguing with God about our DESTINY, sighting our lives are just a SHADOW.
QUESTION for Today…. If we had to pinpoint an area of our “discontent”, what might it be? Now you don’t have to tell anybody, but do take a moment to tell yourself and the Lord. Would it be in your wealth? Or in your health? Or in your relationships? In 6:9, the Bible says, “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind”. There’s that “chasing the wind” thing again. At our age, it’s kind of hard, isn’t it? Sometimes we experience regret. Sometimes the longing we had to be at a certain level might stayed with us but has alluded the reality of where we are. Solomon, in his weakness is giving us good wisdom today though. He didn’t chase the right things all his life and most likely, neither have we. But he knows it’s best to encourage those who still have an opportunity to do something about that in their life! So what area would you pray to become more CONTENT in with God’s help? I’m right there with you, most likely. May we thank Him with great appreciation, realistic expectation and ANYTHING BUT a sense of entitlement today. And may He use our grateful hearts to be a blessing to others today! I have a feeling He’s already doing just that in your life! SONGS that come to mind…. “Can’t Buy Me Love” by the Beatles THURSDAY…Learning-Logue #3 (chapters 7-9) “Funerals > Parties Because Sadness REFINES the Heart” I remember hearing that verse from 7:2 read at funerals growing up, thinking, “are you kidding me”? Is a funeral really better than a party? With all due respect to parties, God touches hearts in a much deeper way during a sad time. And I love the way the NLT phrases verse 3. “Sadness has a refining influence on us”. It sure does. Now I quote that passage3 at some point at every memorial service I preach. Solomon gives “proverbial wisdom” in chapter 7 and mentions that it has it’s limits in life. He warns again “eavesdropping”, because you’ll invariably hear more than you ever cared to hear! And he has a confessional moment about a seductive woman and how the entrapment thereof is more bitter than death! (I used to think he also at some point said, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, until I discovered that was an adapted quote from the play “The Mourning Bride” by William Congreve from the early 1700’s. But I’m sure Solomon THOUGHT it even if he didn’t SAY it!) And look no further for an almost direct quote Bono & U2 used, from 7:28, which says, “Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only 1 out of 1000 men are virtuous, but not one woman”. Now in doing the math, Solomon was married to nearly 1000 “brides & concubines”, which was hard to tell the difference between the two except financially. Could he be referring to his personal experience in those stats? Chapter 8 continues with an appeal to “do the right thing” in verse 5 and a brief comment on delayed justice facilitating a false sense of “safety in doing wrong” in verse 11. His answer for all this is to eat, drink & enjoy life. But Solomon redeems things a little in 9:9, when he mentions it’s best to live happily with the woman you love thru all the meaningless days of life God gave you. Ok, he redeems it a little, but not a lot. I understand why he didn’t say “your wife”, because of how many he had! And I’m guessing he told each wife they were his favorite. I’m thinking he was in a pretty tight spot. And as that chapter winds down, I think he believes in the sovereignty of God and His providential leading, but in verse 11, he kind of throws that all out the window saying it’s all about chance & being in the right place at the right time. I think it’s safe to say Solomon was a little conflicted from time to time! The QUESTION of the Day….. So if we could go back a moment to the title of today’s overarching theme, when & how has SADNESS had a refining influence on you? Take your time in reflecting. As a child, what kind of loss or sadness did you experience? In adolescence? As a young adult? In your middle years? How about now? God teaches us a lot in our times of grief and loss and wee fare not take it lightly in our lives or in the lives of those around us. Pick one of those 5 eras of life we listed and acknowledge when God taught you “more than at other times” thru an event then. For me it would’ve been the loss of my Mom suddenly as a young adult. Those things mark you for life, it seems. But God is good and renews our hearts if we let Him. I wonder if Solomon took the time to articulate some PTSD events in his life? I bet he did, but perhaps not nearly enough of them. Not nearly as many as his father, David. The Psalms are FILLED with those moments & prayers. Write a Prayer….. SONGS that come to mind…. “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 / “Fun” by Sly & the Family Stone / “Alone Again, Naturally” by Gilbert O’Sullivan / “If There Hadn’t Been You” by Billy Dean FRIDAY…the EPILOGUE (chapters 10-12) “REMEMBER Your CREATOR while you’re young & you can!” Time to bring this week to a halt and celebrate the 4th of July today! We have been greatly blessed in this nation and I thank God for His tolerance and pray for His patience! In chapter 10, a “quiet spirit that overcomes mistakes” is elevated. The value of “sharpening the axe” is also mentioned as preferrable. There’s the call to “cut the foolish assumptions” in vs. 11, & the warning to “not make fun of the king” because a little bird might tell him what you said. (Sounds like the king has a few “street informants” like Huggy Bear from Starsky & Hutch…now that took you back a few decades, didn’t it!) Chapter 11 says to “diversify your investments”, don’t wait for the perfect time, especially farmers, and don’t be surprised if you can’t understand the activity of God. Plant the seed, stay busy and get ready for harvest! And the chapter ends with an “on ramp” for chapter 12, which is the heart of the matter, which is to enjoy your youth since we all give an account to God for all we do, and refuse to worry and that will help to keep your body healthy. (Knowing and doing are 2 different things in my experience) And now the TAKE HOME in chapter 12….. Solomon comes out this round with a right jab and a left hook. The JAB is “Don’t forget your Creator while you’re young”. That’s a strong directive. And here comes the LEFT HOOK….“Because you’re about to age, my friend and there’s no putting that in reverse!” And for the next 4 long and very detailed verses, Solomon paints a picture in poetic form of how the mirror will one day not be your friend! He predicts failure in body parts from top to bottom without shame or blushing, and he leaves us thinking we all just have to SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP! The book ends very appropriately with the final encouragement to “fear God and obey His commands” since that is the whole duty of man! QUESTION of the Day…. The final reflection is a question we all have to answer from time to time in our life. It’s simply asking ourselves, “are we in”? With all the complexities in life, are you willing to “trust & obey”? Knowing that our pursuits will get misdirected at times, will you commit to “aging” in the most godly way possible? It wasn’t the over-accumulation of money that kept Solomon from finishing well. it wasn’t the over-accumulation of wisdom that did him in (although that part did wear him out). It was the over-accumulation of ungodly wives bringing in their foreign gods and idols that drew his heart away from the Lord Almighty. So “guarding our heart” in this season of life remains just as critically important as it has always been! It’s no time to let up or give up! So much is at stake in our influence of our grown kids and growing grandkids! With that said, here’s the final song of the week…. The ONLY SONG that come to mind….. ”When All is Said & Done” by Geoff Moore & the Distance (but our preferred version will always be by Phil Miller) And the Lyrics…. When the music fades into the past When my days of life are thru What will be remembered of where I’ve come When all is said and done Will they say I loved my family? That I was a faithful friend? That I lived to tell of God’s own Son When all is said and done? How I long to see the hour When I will hear that trumpet call So I could rise and see my Savior’s face See Him smile and say, “Well done!” You can forget my name and the songs I’ve sung Every rhythm and every tune But remember the truth of Jesus’ love When all is said and done When all is said and done Have a blessed 4th of July, Finishing Well Friends! May we make everyday count for His glory!
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