Living a life that matters
Ecclesiastes1:1-11 + selected Scriptures
Good morning everyone, glad that you have joined us. Please turn to Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
I hope the title of the message caught your attention. Living a life that matters!
I am sure in some way that this is our prayer.
The older I get the more I don’t want to waste time with things that don’t matter. Life matters because you realize that it is not all about you but about what you have done to make an impact in people’s lives that the Lord has brought around you including family and friends.
We will look at Solomon this morning. The son of David and Bethsheba. A man who literally had anything and everything he wanted.
We are going to look at what he says about life and hopefully be able to apply it to our lives this morning.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 Read
Question:
What has priority in your life? Your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend? Your kids, your pleasures? Your job? Is it all about you?
Where does God fit in? Does He even fit in?
Fill in the blank- “My life would have meaning if..........”
Sinbad has a comedy routine about getting older and being one with your spouse –
He says that the two of you getting older together have become one good person.
One has a good right hip and one has a good leg and that’s how you have balance.
Marriage is about falling apart together- you need each other.
One can see and one can hear.
You become a team.
My life has changed as I get older. A few years ago, I would have never imagined me being where I am but I am thankful, and grateful, and I want to make the best of every moment to be pleasing to my Lord and to my family because they both mean everything to me.
I realize I will not live forever. Some of you may be at my funeral.
My body tells me that. I cannot do the same things as before.
I’ve watched love ones die.
I see my babies having babies.
I am a Great-grandfather two times.
I see these kids getting older and saying things that I said at their age.
The ideal would be to get answers to hard questions at a young age so you can enjoy the benefits from it, not wait until we get old because we are not promised tomorrow.
Solomon came from a dysfunctional family. I don’t know -Does that bring you any comfort?
The son of an adulterous relationship.
The son of a dad who killed a man to cover up his sins and actions.
Solomon gives a description of what the world thought was important, he has tried it and tells us that it left him empty and meaningless.
Quote:
To have the right priorities, a man’s focus must not be on the head, but on the heart, not on himself, but on God, not on time, but on eternity. Roy Lessin
Here is a thought from your Pastor:
Too much is never enough, but it is always more than we can handle. (Let that sink in)
2 choices
Learn from other people’s mistakes and avoid them in our lives.
Learn the hard way-Think that you are smarter and that you will have a different outcome.
Life journey (I said before) first breath to the last breath- what you do between the two is your journey and it will effect eternity for you. It will decide what meaning your life had.
You can race through life, pursuing every dollar that can be made, every pleasure that can be had, and in the end will look back and see that you have not made much impact...or you can stop and pull over to see the scenery, see what God has put before you, and enjoy where God has for you right now!
Statements like:
I would be happy if... AND THEN YOU FILL IN THE BLANKS
I had a boyfriend or girlfriend.
I was Free from my parents.
I get married, and have children.
My parents would love each other again.
I had enough money.
I Were popular.
I was Faster, stronger, more athletic.
Pretty
We spend our lives “wishing on a star” always wondering what it would be like at a spot other than where we are.
We spend so much time living our own lives, we never get involved in other’s lives.
Solomon
v1 “The words of the teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem, meaningless, meaningless, utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless.”
Solomon about wisdom/knowledge alone:
v12 “I, the teacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun. All this is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Pleasures are meaningless:
2:1-3 read from Bible
10-13
Toil is meaningless:
2:17-20 read from Bible
Riches are meaningless:
2:8-11 read from Bible.
What is he saying? What am I saying? That if you are looking for fulfillment in stuff. Your life will be meaningless. You can learn the lessons at a young age (perfect) or you can learn them at an old age (if God allows you old age)
One point message this morning!
Too much is never enough
Mel Gibson
Money, power, fame, respect, love, popularity
Successful actor, averages over 25 million a movie
1993 acting was not enough, became a producer. Braveheart, man without a face.
Voted sexiest man alive
Worldwide fame and fortune
True love, married to the same women for 25 years.
Unlimited power.
In saying all that- live on an interview with Diane Sawyer- “I just did not want to go on” he was at a spot of committing suicide, wanted to jump out a window and end his life.
Big bank account, spiritually bankrupt!
His note said:
“I’ve tried everything within my power to appreciate it (and I do, God, believe me I do, but it is not enough) I need to be slightly numb in order to regain that enthusiasms I once had as a child”.
Something is not adding up!
World goes after these things and then realizes it is not enough
Solomon realized it is not enough.
You cannot fill the void in your life reserved for God with anything but God. (Repeat)
I would be if...
I could be satisfied if…
The hole in our lives may vary, but God is the only one to fill it.
Questions-
How many people do you know who are trying to find meaning in some of these areas?
How many are convinced that money, sex, popularity, fame, is the answer?
You do not have to be the king of Israel, Mel Gibson, or any celebrity to understand that void.
Before you chase down the if’s... maybe we should look at people who have tried it to see what we can learn from them.
Life only has meaning when God is at the center of it.
“Learn everything the hard way”
“I’ll try anything once”
“If I had that kind of money, I would not be stupid with it”
“I know when to stop”
All this is chasing the wind, if God is not the center.
The wind is invisible, it destroys before you see it coming.
You cannot control the wind, it is bigger and more powerful than you are.
People reject religion and God, holding out hope that apart from God they will find the answers. They keep searching, nothing satisfying, always having to go to deeper extremes.
Billy Graham met with Maryland Monroe and wanted to share Jesus with her. She replied I don’t need your Jesus. Not long after, what they believe happened was an overdose that took her life. This is the perfect conclusion to a life without God.
They see no need for God until it is too late.
I don’t know if Heinz Ward (Former Receiver-Pittsburgh Steelers) is a Christian or not. All I know is that guy is always smiling. He takes a pounding hit and he comes up smiling. He misses a play and it seems like he goes back to the huddle and tells them, let’s try that again!
To many people’s life is like a touchdown scored after the whistle. They struggle to get to the endzone. They score the touchdown, achieve their victory in life, only to discover that it doesn’t count.
Maybe you have felt that- that life is all pushing for yardage but never making a first down, reaching for the long pass but having it intercepted.
Without God, pleasures are temporary... they lose their appeal.
If you do not know your purpose in life, you will never be satisfied.
Solomon tells us this morning.... “look, you can live your life anyway you choose, but remember in the end your going to have to give an account to God for the decisions you make. Now that I have experienced all that I experienced, my best advice to you is to remember God while you are young and avoid some of the pitfalls of life.
Are you getting it this morning! if you are still with me say amen!
Jesus delivers a message this morning, not to hinder us from having fun, but to help us enjoy what is really important! A relationship with Almighty God.
Most lottery winners are broke within three years, when asked, most people think that money is the answer to all their problems. It will fix whatever is going on.
If you are not living for God this morning, you already know that your life is in the tank.
You are aware that you must make a change.
You already know that your future is not bright.
I want you to know that I have buried babies, young adults and the elderly. When death comes knocking, it does not care your age. God is in the changing business.
Jesus came into this world for the sole purpose of putting you and I in a right relationship with God the Father. The enemy came to kill and destroy. Jesus says “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.
How about it this morning? Is today the day that you allow God to make a change in your life?
Living for self will not fill the void! Life has purpose only when God is in control!
James 1:5- “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James breaks into a thought about not being double minded and tossed about by every wind and doctrine-
(17) “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heaven”
Including wisdom to live a life that matters!
If any of you lacks wisdom… wisdom is the Greek word “sophias”, it means enlightenment, insight.
There is a difference between the wisdom of God and information.
There are some who have diplomas hanging on their walls who have a lot of information but not Godly wisdom.
Education gives you information and facts. Education is important, but it is not godly wisdom.
Godly wisdom gives you principals, solutions and answers that line up with God’s word.
Maybe this morning, you find out what God thinks about what you are going through. Maybe today is the day you bend a knee and ask God what you should do.
Man has education and God has wisdom…if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.
The word ask here is “aiteo” it means to be adamant in requesting and demanding assistance to meet tangible needs, such as food, shelter, money. The word here also expresses the idea that the one asking has a full expectation to receive what has been requested. God isn’t requesting that we come to him as believers, he is commanding us that are His to come believing that He is going to give us what we need and that what we seek from Him is wisdom that is far more than just information but has the principal and promises of God built into them.
We don’t need stuff- we need the wisdom of God to live a life that matters.
Prayer for today
Lord help me to find Godly wisdom and see that my life matters- to you and to those that you have brought into my life to make an impact and a difference.
Help me Lord not to learn lessons the hard way but by your way- principles and solutions that work because it comes with your blessings and promises.
