Nobody gets out of here alive. This may sound like the plot of a horror story, yet this is the...
Ecclesiastes
You Will Not Complete What You Don’t Start
Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2...
Right Times and Right Words
I’ve spent quite a bit of time working through the book of Ecclesiastes, and this passage remains...
When Reality Is Upside Down
Dealing with people well is a skill that, if mastered, enables us to do much good in the world. The best leaders have always known this. They do not manage everyone the same way; rather, they take into account the personalities and temperaments of those who serve...
Short-Term Setbacks, Long-Term Gain
Visit any bookstore, and one is almost certain to find a relatively large section devoted to “self-help” literature. From books prescribing ten easy steps to improving one’s marriage, to writings that outline steps to guarantee success in business, to works that...
Working While We Can
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), the great early American statesman, was by no means a believer in Christ, and yet he had great insight that has benefitted many people. Franklin once said that “lost time is never found again,” a concise way of saying that we should make...
Embracing Our Finitude
From the very beginning, human beings have not been content to embrace their finitude. Not wanting to operate within the boundaries God set for them in Eden, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit so that they could be like their Creator in His knowledge of good and...
This Present Reality Is Not Ultimate
In this brief section of Ecclesiastes, the author addresses one of the fundamental issues Christians face: the apparent exaltation of the wicked. We’ve all been there, right? We look around, and there seems to be a serious disconnect between what we think should...
Living within the Limits to the Limit
Ecclesiastes 8:1-9, “Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. 2 I say:[a] Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.[b] 3 Be not hasty to go from his...
The Things People Say
Nobody’s perfect, the old saying goes, and this truth is confirmed every day in our experience. We might pore over our work for hours, even days, seeking to catch every error, and yet the report we handed to our boss ends up having mistakes here and there. We measure...
Fearing God and Holding to the Truth
There is a certain injustice in the world that the crummiest guys live long lives and the best are taken from us too soon. And I like that the Bible is honest about this reality. It doesn’t sugar coat things. It doesn’t tell you that if you’re good enough bad things...
Comparing Wisdom and Folly
Unlike other sections of Ecclesiastes chapter 7:1-12 is a string of proverbs that does not have a unifying theme. There are many themes the Preacher strings together, whereas most of the chapters have a consistent line of thinking. This stringing together of wisdom...
Wealth With No Joy
“Ecclesiastes 6 is one of the Bible’s darkest chapters,” wrote one commentator. Next, to Job 3, I agree with him. The Preacher ended chapter five by describing how God gives everything we have to us, including the ability to enjoy it (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Enjoying the...
Finding Contentment in the Lord
In every society throughout history, it has been a misconception that wealth will bring contentment. The saying is true that “money solves problems.” Yet, it is more accurate that money can causes more problems than it solves. In many societies, it is the wealthy that...
Measured Speech
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word...