A life of contentment
Ecclesiastes 5:1-5:8
Introduction-
Ecclesiastes 5:1-8
Have you ever read the book of Ecclesiastes? Fold the Bible in half, that Psalms, go forward two books, proverbs, then Ecclesiastes.
It opens up… meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.
Wisdom is meaningless.
Pleasure is meaningless.
Work is meaningless.
Time is meaningless.
Advancement is meaningless.
Sounds like his life is meaningless right!
A man that is suffering from depression.
Until you understand the writer of these words, you will never to be able to understand his words.
The son of King David, Solomon was the richest man to ever have lived.
The one that God asked what he wanted and he choose wisdom and because he choose wisdom God gave it all to him.
The man who had everything realized that without God, without God’s direction, everything is meaningless.
If I have not struck curiosity with you, I’m guessing you already checked out.
One preacher said that if I didn’t strike oil, stop boring.
Let’s see what Solomon has to say to us with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-8
I want to ask you this morning, how do you approach church?
What do you expect to happen?
What are you looking for?
Solomon tells us to guard our steps when we go to the house of God.
Go to listen rather than be a fool. Talk, Talk, Talk.
Do not be quick with your mouth, let your words be few and your heart be open.
When you make a vow to keep it.
When you make a vow to God, know that God takes that vow seriously and don’t let your mouth lead you into sin.
Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
Do you realize the impact Christians would make on this world if we lived out the words of Solomon in our lives?
Live our lives the way God intended instead of doing it our way and struggling.
Instead of a person who thinks life is meaningless:
We would look at life without God as being meaningless.
With God as being fulfilled and blessed beyond measure. (The opposite of today)
If we fail to invite God into our lives then we will live a meaningless life and life will be a life of misery.
Some people like the Israelites feel they can come into church and pretend their life away and they think they are fooling God about their heart condition.
Solomon calls them a fool!
God says, tell you the truth, I have heard it all before!
I am looking for people who not only talk the talk, but one willing to walk the walk.
NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
Is there a reason for living for you? Do you have purpose and know what it is?
Only you can answer that question correctly.
Illustration (sermoncentral)
Jack Benny(1960’s) use to do a skit on the radio.
A robber pointed a gun at him and said, “your money or your life” Benny said, after a long pause, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking!”
I will be happy when I become rich
When I win the lottery
When my relative leaves me some money.
If that Is your reason for living, you are in trouble. Because those thing are based upon future, and chance, and someone else, what about now!
Solomon wasn’t against money, but realized it is not a cure to find happiness.
Solomon was not against material things, but materialism isn’t owning things, it is things owning you.
On Wednesday, I made this statement, I stick to it.
I am amazed by people who get up on Sunday morning and have to decide every Sunday whether they are going to church. Why is that?
If you get up and you are not sick, you need to be in church.
If your excuse would not be acceptable to your boss on Monday, don’t give it to God on Sunday
If one person is sick in your family, does the whole family have to stay home. Is that what you would do on Monday?
I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
Meaning we live our sermons, we do what is important to us.
We support what we believe in.
God has a plan for you!
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me with all your heart.”
God has a plan for each one of us.
It involves 3 things.
1. God has a plan for us.
2. God has a plan in us.
3. God has a plan through us.
Life takes meaning when we do that!
The answer for some this morning was right there. Those three things!
God has a plan for us is well accepted.
God pour out the floodgates of heaven.
Let it overflow Lord, Give me all that you got! The more the better!
We like that!
God has a plan in you. That just okay.
Okay Lord, I know I am not perfect, but make the little changes needed in my life as long as they are not big things and I don’t have to obey you.
It will be okay.
God has a plan through us. God, we don’t like that one.
That means all the blessings he’s done for you. We have to share it with someone else.
That means the things that you do in us that you expect us to obey and allow you to continue to change the things you do not like.
That means Lord, that through us, you are going to touch other people. Through our time and finances, through our skills and resources .
That it is not all about you. It is about what He is about to do through us.
It means that when I come into church, it is not all about me, it is about me being with the Lord and Him working through me.
Then my life will have meaning because if our life does not count for eternitry, it has not eternal value.
I believe that God should get 10 % of our time.
I believe that God should get 10% of our money.
I believe that God should get 10% of all our resources.
10/3rd power- you know that is not 10+10+10=30. It is 10x10x10=1000
Lives that have meaning because everything w have takes on new meaning when God is in it. Should be saying Amen!
Action speaks louder than words, and our actions speaks where our heart and priorities are in our life.
Lastly, why have I said all this?
People forget that all we have belongs to the Lord.
We forget God has a plan for each one of our lives and it is fantastic, and we settle for okay all the way down to miserable.
If we put our priorities right, contentment could be found and that is what most here today are looking for and cannot find.
We cannot understand why God seems mad at us for broken vows we made, disobedience, chasing dreams outside of God.
The fact that we cannot be content where He has us.
We are not willing to give back to God, but hoarding it all for ourselves.
He is waiting patiently for us to surrender ourselves to him and then stand in awe of what He can do.
If we would come into church on Sunday morning and desire more than anything else for God to give us direction and to express our love for Christ, we would see some amazing things happen.
Contentment is living our lives within the boundaries God has laid out for us.
It is a rare person who, when his cup frequently runs over can give thanks to God instead of complaining about the size of the cup.
I am content until I look at harbor freight weekly sales flyer.
I like my car until I see someone with a new car.
I feel I have enough, until I see someone with more.
Illustration-
There is a story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. Why aren’t you out there fishing? He asked. Because I’ve caught enough fish for today, said the fisherman. Why don’t you catch more fish than you need? The rich man asked. What would I do with them? You could earn more money, came the impatient reply, and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me. The fisherman asked, what would I do? You could sit down and enjoy life, said the industrialist. The fisherman said, what do you think I am doing right now?
You don’t have to have a lot of money to enjoy life.
It is a trap to think that you do.
Illustration-
Like the airplane pilot who was flying over a river. He said to his co-pilot, see that river down there? When I was a boy I would fish down there and every time I would see a plane flying over that river I would say, I sure would like to be flying that plane. Now every time I fly over that river I look down and think, I sure would like to be down there fishing.
Let me wrap this up. The secret of life and contentment is found in Jesus Christ.
Someone said-
I spent my life searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Then I found it at the foot of the cross.
It is like the dog chasing his tail, have you watched anything so foolish?
Chasing something that is already yours.
How God must look in disbelief, what your after already belongs to you, just stop and realize it is yours.
