Series- BEEN THERE- DONE THAT- NOW WHAT 17- DON T PLAY IT SAFE- TAKE RISK Ecclesiastes 11 Intro- Solomon began this book by giving us his conclusion of life under the sun. Throughout most of the book he seems to have his head down as he looks back with regret over his life. He is consumed with the thought of life under the sun. He said it is nothing more than vanity of vanities. All is vanity! Vanity means emptiness. Solomon s view on life was like chasing pretty bubbles. Bubbles may sparkle and glisten, but they pop leaving nothing at all. High paying jobs and big homes may sparkle and glisten with success. But many have found out they are still empty and void of true happiness. You may reach the top only to find, it s lonely at the top! Can I tell you WHY life under the sun is empty and vain? It is because life without God IS EMPTY. Life without God makes no sense. Life without God means we assume we are here by mistake or chance. Therefore we can just eat drink and be merry because tomorrow we re all going to die! But can I tell you (good neighbor HAH!) LIFE WITH GOD is WONDERFUL! To know that GOD created this world NOT so He could say look what I done! But that He created this world and He created you and I so HE could have a relationship with US. The Bible tells us that God created angels. And their job is to stand in His presence and adore him. (Is anybody listening?) ALL they do is say How Awesome You Are GOD! And He is Awesome! But the real reason GOD created this world and created man is so we might lift up our eyes and we might say with our lips...you ARE AWESOME GOD! Jesus said: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) Do you know what our Lord was saying? HE said: I AM COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE AN ABUNDANT LIFE A FULL LIFE AN OVER-THE- TOP-LIFE. The Son of GOD did not come down from Heaven so we could have a SO-SO LIFE. Just waking up every day going through the motions OH ON! The Son of GOD did not come down from Heaven so we could have an EMPTY LIFE but an OVER-THE-TOP-LIFE. In chapter 11 Solomon seems to lift his eyes up above the sun. In chapter 11 DON T PLAY IT SAFE- TAKE SOME RISK!
DARE to STEP OUT of the SAFETY ZONE! TRUST GOD for an abundant life! I wonder how many are playing it safe in their Christian life? How many are willing to take some risk and step out trusting God for an abundant life? I. DON T PLAY IT SAFE BECAUSE LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE- (Vs.1-6) Four times in the first 6 verses of Ecclesiastes 11, Solomon reminds us of the uncertainty of life! That there are some things we do not know. He tells us: We do not know what evil will be on the earth; we do not know the way of the winds; we do know the works of God; and, we do not know what will prosper. (1) In other words, there are some things in life that are beyond our control. So don t let those things scare us from living by faith. A. BE ADVENTUREOUS IN YOUR INVESTMENTS- Vs. 1-2 Ecclesiastes 11:1 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. What in the world does this verse mean? Cast your bread on the water and you ll get soggy bread. Cast your bread on the water and seagulls will eat it. Cast your bread on the water and your mom will be mad at you for wasting your food. What is Solomon s point? Cast thy bread upon the waters may be paraphrased, Send out your grain in ships. Solomon was involved in various kinds of trade. (See 1 Kings 10:15,22) Israel produced grain and they would use it as trade. The word Cast suggests an open hand. Solomon was suggesting taking risk. There would be risk involved in sending out your grain. It would take months for the cargo to return. Verse 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. Verse 2 means, Send cargo on seven or eight ships, because some of them are bound to bring back a good return on the investment. In other words, Don t put all your eggs in one basket. Verses 1 and 2 give reference to giving. There is risk involved in giving. The risk is it takes faith to give. But there are solid promises laid out in scripture.
One promise is found here in our scripture, 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. ILL- Last November in our 1 ever Harvest Offering, Jody and I gave a sacrificial gift as our offering. Over 30 days later, we were in turn given a gift from an unexpected relative buying us 2 tickets on a cruise. The cost of the cruise was a few dollars more than we have given. It came back with increase! Luke 6:38 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete (give) withal it shall be measured (given) to you again. Galatians 6:7 whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The question is are we willing to invest and take the risk? Are we willing to open our hand and give of our resources and talents that we may see a return on our investment? Or we could play it safe and keep our grain and make us some bread. But that would be expecting nothing more out of life than what comes our way. I like taking risk! I like being a risk taker. I remember when my wife and I decided that we were going start tithing. We knew it didn t add up but we took a risk we believed God and we have been blessed because we have stepped out of the safe zone! We have dared to put it ALL on the table! We have learned Our Lord was exactly right when He said: Acts 20:35 3 It is more blessed to give than to receive. How can WE as A.O.H. Cast our bread on the waters? By investing in missionaries and ministries that are getting the Gospel out! By taking some hot dogs and goody bags down to the homeless shelter and then preaching the Gospel to them. B. BE AGGRESSIVE IN YOUR INVOLVEMENTS- Vs. 3-6 In these verses, Solomon is describing the Procrastination of a farmer. He is describing a lazy man who say, there s a chance of rain today, no use trying to do some work today! It may rain on us, no need in going fishing! It might rain, might as well wait for another day!
If we sit back and WAIT for the right time, it will never come. *If you are Waiting for the perfect church, you ll never find one! *If you are Waiting for the perfect ministry, you ll never serve in one! *If you are Waiting to make more money so you can tithe, you will never tithe. (If we are Waiting for the right time, we are playing it safe! Solomon is saying, take a step of faith. Take some risk!) ILL- When the Allied troops landed on the beach at Normandy on June 6, 1944, they found the shore well fortified by German machine guns. Many of the men crouched behind the great wood and iron mines, shaped as crosses and protruding out of the water. Those who hunkered down in fear inevitably died; those who kept on moving forward, into the cascade of gunfire, had much greater chance of surviving. (2) Vs. 5= Life is a mysterious journey, that we don t know everything! We don t understand the way of the wind! The wind is sovereignty driven. Sometimes God does things or allows things to happen that we don t understand. But that is no reason for us to be paralyzed over fear. ILL- The famous cowboy John Wayne once said, Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. Keep moving forward by faith! II. DON T PLAY IT SAFE BECAUSE LIFE IS A GIFT- (Vs. 7-10) A. ENJOY EACH DAY THANKFULLY- (Vs. 7-8) 7 Truly the light is sweet, (he is talking about living life) and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: (Solomon said how thankful we should be to wake up another day and see the sun!) 8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. B. ENJOY YOUR YOUTH THOROUGHLY- (Vs. 9-10) 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Here Solomon is telling the young people to enjoy their youth. Don t be in a hurry to grow up! Being young has many advantages: less responsibility, lots of energy, many good friends, and boatloads of opportunity.
ILL- Keith LeClair was one of America s youngest and brightest baseball stars. As a twenty-five-year-old head coach, he took the Western Carolina University to within one game of the College World Series. He was named coach of the year three times Suddenly, his career came to a dramatic halt when he was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig s disease). He said, Not long ago, baseball absorbed my life 365 days a year. But when the doctor said, I m sorry, but you have ALS and there is nothing I can do to help. All of a sudden, baseball seemed to not matter a whole lot to me anymore. Instead my thoughts were on God and my family. LeClair now begins each day in the Scriptures. He said, If you were to peek inside my journal, you d find almost every entry says in one way or another: Thank you Lord for this day, for a good night s rest, and for the privilege of being alive one more day on this earth to serve you. (3) Life is Uncertain God help us to enjoy each day! Conclusion- Life Is an Adventure! By faith, take some risk! Don t sit back waiting for the ideal time. Don t sit back waiting on God to call you on your cell phone and say here is my plan for your life! Take a step of faith. And realize that life is a gift. The only way you can enjoy life and be thankful is to know Christ and the free pardon from sin. Do you desire to live an Over-The-Top Life? Then stop playing it safe and take some risk! Notes: Illustrations from: (1) Searching for Heaven on Earth-D. Jeremiah (2) Searching for Heaven on Earth-D. Jeremiah pg. 284 (3) Searching for Heaven on Earth- D. Jeremiah pg.292