Deciding What Really Matters
What Drives Many of Us…
Wealth
Eccles. 5:10-11 (NLT)
Those who love
money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true
happiness! [11] The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.
So what is the advantage of wealth—except perhaps to watch it run through your
fingers!
More Knowledge
Eccles. 1:16-18 (NLT)
I said to myself,
"Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom
and knowledge than any of them." [17] So I worked hard to distinguish
wisdom from foolishness. But now I realize that even this was like chasing the
wind. [18] For the greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase
knowledge only increases sorrow.
More pleasure
Eccles. 2:9-11 (NLT)
So I became
greater than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. And with it all, I
remained clear-eyed so that I could evaluate all these things. [10] Anything I
wanted, I took. I did not restrain myself from any joy. I even found great
pleasure in hard work, an additional reward for all my labors. [11] But as I
looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so
meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
More hard work and accomplishments
Eccles. 2:18-23 (NLT)
I am disgusted
that I must leave the fruits of my hard work to others. [19] And who can tell
whether my successors will be wise or foolish? And yet they will control
everything I have gained by my skill and hard work. How meaningless!
[20] So I turned
in despair from hard work. It was not the answer to my search for satisfaction
in this life. [21] For though I do my work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, I
must leave everything I gain to people who haven't worked to earn it. This is
not only foolish but highly unfair. [22] So what do people get for all their
hard work? [23] Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at
night they cannot rest. It is all utterly meaningless.
Eccles. 5:16-17 (NLT)
And this, too, is
a very serious problem. As people come into this world, so they depart. All
their hard work is for nothing. They have been working for the wind, and
everything will be swept away. [17] Throughout their lives, they live under a
cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
Seeking fairness
Eccles. 5:8 (NLT)
If you see a poor
person being oppressed by the powerful and justice being miscarried throughout
the land, don't be surprised! For every official is under orders from higher
up, and matters of justice only get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.
Eccles. 8:9-10 (NLT)
I have thought
deeply about all that goes on here in the world, where people have the power to
hurt each other. [10] I have seen wicked people buried with honor. How strange
that they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are praised in the
very city where they committed their crimes!
Ephes. 5:17 (NLT)
Don't act
thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.
1. Cultivate a healthy
fear of the Lord
Eccles. 12:13-14 (NLT)
Here is my final
conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every
person. [14] God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret
thing, whether good or bad.
Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
"The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.
Train our eyes for seeing His presence
Psalm 119:18 (NIV)
Open my eyes that
I may see wonderful things in your law.
Hebrews
10:36 (NLT)
Patient endurance is what you need now, so
you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has
promised.
Deut.
8:2 (NLT)
Remember how the Lord your God led you
through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove
your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his
commands.
2. Invest in
relationships by first, praying for relationships to stand alongside us;
secondly, for relationships that we can bless others with.
Eccles. 4:9-12 (NLT)
Two people can
accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their
labor. [10] If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people
who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. [11] And on a cold night, two
under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm
alone? [12] A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can
stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided
cord is not easily broken.
The antidote for
fifty enemies is one friend. ~Aristotle
3. Enjoy and be contented with what we
currently have – don’t wait for perfect conditions before enjoying God’s
blessings today.
Eccles. 11:4 (NLT)
If you wait for
perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.
Eccles. 5:18-20 (NLT)
Even so, I have
noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well,
drink a good glass of wine, and enjoy their work—whatever they do under the
sun—for however long God lets them live. [19] And it is a good thing to receive
wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept
your lot in life—that is indeed a gift from God. [20] People who do this rarely
look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy.
Focus on enjoying all
that we do and all that we have today as our lot in life and
as a gift from God
Eccles. 2:24-26; 3:12-13;
3:22; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7-10; 11:8