A man with great material wealth wrote Ecclesiastes from the perspective of a self-minded person. He had denied himself no pleasure, but after those pleasures were experienced, depression set in. Thanks to God, he came to his senses, and wrote Ecclesiastes to encourage others not to make the same mistake that he did.
Rivalry may be used as a motivator to spur on work, but rivalry doesn’t result in revival. Revival springs forth from a heart that is set free from the sinful self and filled with love by Jesus Christ.
“He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” [1]
“Thank You Heavenly Father for making beautiful that which lacked beauty. Please help us to fathom Your doings more fully.”
“I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear Him.” [2]
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your wonderful works.”
“Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” [3] Abiding in God’s love yields tranquility whereas sinful pride never has enough.
King Solomon describes the life of wisdom in the passage below:
“The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath: one person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. People curse those who hoard grain, but they pray God’s blessing on those who are willing to sell. Whoever seeks good finds favor...” [4]
Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” [5]
God’s love initiates well-being and good outcomes. When we abide in His love, good things happen. The love of Christ compels us to be what we would never be on our own, namely, a person whose beauty is from God, and is for the glory of God!
[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11
[2] Ecclesiastes 3:14
[3] Ecclesiastes 4:6
[4] Proverbs 11:24-27
[5] Matthew 10:8
What rich truths you presented here! It is so true that the more we focus on ourselves, the deeper the spiral of sorrow and despair we fall into. Yet, when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we are drawn after a glorious pursuit - the great adventure our souls were made to run in! Thanks for sharing these insights!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment. It makes me exceedingly glad when something Jesus ministered to me, ministers to someone as well
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