NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD Ecclesiastes 9:1-10:20

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1 Dr JD Harless Tri-County Christian Church July 24, 2016 Resources: Expositors & Commentaries NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD Ecclesiastes 9:1-10:20 Have you ever met someone that if they smiled you think their face might crack? If you ask them if they have joy in their lives they ask you who Joy is. They are so worried about life s winding roads that they are constantly miserable. They are worried about The winding road of their money will last as long as they do The winding road of the world s insecurity will ISIS show up in Anderson or Middletown? The winding road of their kids future will they turn out to be a Billy Graham or a Charles Manson Maybe you don t look like your face is going to crack if you smile but maybe you are worried about your future as well. Maybe the road of life for you has been or is very winding and you are afraid that you might slip off and get stuck. Let me share with you a quick video clip maybe this is an illustration of your life right now. (SHOW VIDEO CLIP) That road is called the Tail of the Dragon it winds its way through the Smokey Mountains. I was just on it this spring it is truly a scary road to be on! It about made me want to throw up! Life ever make you feel like throwing up? Have the curvy roads of life made you sick? Solomon has a couple of tips for us this morning in our passage for when life becomes the tail of the dragon for you TIP #1 ENJOY THE ROAD OF LIFE TO THE FULLEST READ VERSES 1-3 There is a saying There are only three things you have to be born pay taxes and die. Solomon is in somewhat in agreement here he says It does not matter whether you are good, bad or ugly you are going to die. Well he really did not say good, bad & ugly he said Righteous or wicked NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 1

2 Good or bad Clean or dirty The fact is we all have a common destiny here on earth the grave. It is like the epitaph on the lady s coffin that said I told you I was sick. We are all going to end up on the brown side of the grass some time no matter how hard we try to delay it or prevent it. Prince who some say was one of the most talented musicians to live is dead Muhammad Ali who was said to be the greatest is dead Pat Summit who I consider one of the best women s basketball coaches ever is dead. Righteous or wicked good or bad clean or unclean we all die. Wow! Aren t you glad you came this morning? You all are probably going to need to go see your doctor and get some kind of anti-depression medicine right? Solomon does not stop there though. He does give us some hope. Look at VERSES 4-6 READ. By the way the dog he is speaking of here is not your typical house dog that you might consider part of your family. That did not happen then. The dogs were rabid. They would be more like our coyotes of today. Not something you would necessarily want around. The truth is you don t want them around. But Solomon says that a live rabid dog is better off than a dead lion. What is he saying? The rabid dog is better off than the King of the Jungle because the dog is still alive. That is Solomon s point! We are all going to die but not yet. We are all still alive. That is the silver lining in this cloud. And here is his Solomon s advice VERSES 7-10 READ Enjoy the life that God has given you! Solomon s father David put it this way in PSALM 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Let me in on a secret listen to this carefully because it is a secret that a lot of people do not know: It is okay to enjoy life! NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 2

3 One of the things that I have learned from Dallas Willard a phenomenal author is that a person needs to read at least one classic for every 4 or 5 books that have recently been published. I am presently reading Thomas a Kempis book The Imitation of Christ. While it is a good book to read very inspiring and informative there is a tendency for Thomas to indicate that our bodies are a nuisance to our Christian living. They should be beaten down rather than enjoyed. Solomon and David both is saying that we are to enjoy the life that God has given us! You see the problem is when people often only see one side of biblical commands or worse yet listen to someone that only tells the negative side of the commands. They see that God warns about. Sexual purity and they miss God s command to enjoy sex in marriage Keeping our speech holy but miss that we should enjoy conversation Being unequally yoked but missing the joy of having good friends Listen to me you are not dead yet! Don t act like it. Enjoy the life that God has blessed you with! Look at VERSES 8 again Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. If you were going to a feast in Solomon s time, you would wear white clothes because it reflected the heat of the sun and anoint your head with oil because the oil help keeps your skin from drying out. When people were joyful they showed it by wearing white clothes and putting oil on their heads. Today this would be like us showing up at a party in bright colored clothes and supporting good smelling cologne and a smile on our face. Enjoy life because it is short! VERSE 12 makes it clear that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Solomon writes Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. His tip for us enjoy the life that God has given you BUT that does not mean throw it all to the wind and do whatever you want! Enjoying life demands that you keep your eyes on the road and proceed with wisdom! Channel 8 WVLT released a story July 11th of two separate deaths on the tail of the dragon that had happened just that week. NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 3

4 Which brings us to the second tip from our preacher Solomon TIP #2 KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD Listen to what Solomon says in VERSES 17-10:2 READ. Then I think VERSE 3 is particularly apropos today VERSE 3 Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is. I cannot count the times that I have been sitting behind someone at a stop sign the light turns green and we just sit there. When the driver finally decides to go after a friendly honk of the horn by the person behind her she takes off and you notice that she is texting on her phone. That is not the scary part the scary part is that she continues to text on the phone as she drives. She glances up every few seconds but spends more time looking down that looking ahead. Any of you ever experienced that? Any of you ever do that? Let me share some stats with you concerning distracted driving Approximately 86% of drivers said they ate or drank while driving at some point, and 57% said they do it sometimes or often. Over 1/3 of drivers (37%) have sent or received text messages while driving, and 18% said they do it regularly. Forty-one percent of adult drivers have set or changed a GPS system while driving, and 21% do it more frequently. Many adult drivers (36%) have read a map while driving, and 10% do it sometimes or often. One in five drivers have combed or styled his or her hair while driving. One in ten does it regularly. Have you ever seen a driver putting on makeup? Approximately 14% have done it once, and 7% do it frequently. About 13% of adult drivers have surfed the Internet while driving. Results of the poll showed that younger drivers were more likely to engage in distracted driving. Men were more likely to drive while drowsy, drive after drinking, read a map, use a GPS system, and use the Internet. NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 4

5 A large percentage of the people said they know distracted driving is dangerous, but do it anyway. Solomon uses the word folly in today s passage a word that certainly fits not keeping your eyes on the road while driving. The word folly actually means Stupidity craziness or recklessness. It is serious business to keep our eyes on the road especially one that is as windy as the tail of the dragon but it is even more important that we keep our eyes on the windy road of life! Solomon s father David is a prime example of what happens when you take your eyes off of life s road. In 2 SAMUEL we see King David takes his eyes off of God and starts looking at Bathsheba Uriah s wife. Not only does he sin in his mind in a lustful manner but he sins by having an affair with her and sins by having her husband killed to cover up his sin. It never turns out well when your eyes are diverted from the road of life! And in the case of David it all started with something small and spiraled into something major that made the rest of his life miserable! Solomon calls this a fly in the ointment in VERSE 1 of CHAPTER 10 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Several years ago Vicki, Brandon and I were eating at my favorite Chinese Restaurant. Brandon was eating away and all of a sudden he stopped stared at his plate and proceeded to turn green. Vicki being the loving mother that she is asked him what was wrong. There was a roach in his food. What had been a great evening with great family time and great food turned into a disaster in a matter of seconds for Vicki and Brandon. And even for me because they did not want to stick around while I finished my food. The smallest of folly can ruin a whole life and that happens when we take our eyes off the road of life. Throughout CHAPTER 10 Solomon gives four examples of someone taking their eyes off the curvy road and crashing their lives The foolish ruler in VERSES 4-7. The foolish worker in VERSES 8-11 The foolish talker in VERSES NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 5

6 The foolish public leaders in VERSES In each one of these areas we have a responsibility to keep our eyes on the road of life. As rulers in our home we need to be wise and keep our eyes on the road of life As workers on our jobs we need to be wise and keep our eyes on the road of life. As talkers in our community we need to choose our words wisely and keep our eyes on the road of life. As those who lead and are under leaders we need to be wise and keep our eyes on the road of life. There is one more thing I need to share with you before closing. I have shared with you the tips from Solomon that we need to enjoy the journey but that we need to keep our eyes on the road of life. WHO or what is this road of life that if we keep our eyes on it we will be wise and refrain from doing foolish things big or small that might ruin our lives for as long as we live. There is a verse that tells us exactly who this road is It is found in JOHN 14:6 Listen I am the way and the truth and the life. Did you get that he is the way the road. And he is the life. As long as we have our eyes on him we will not crash and burn. PROVERBS 3:6 puts it this way in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Having trouble with enjoying life? Having trouble staying on the road of life? Then why not turn your eyes upon Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Jesus look fully into his glorious face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace NAVIGATING LIFE S WINDING ROAD 6