You’ve seen the LIFE IS GOOD t-shirts- I know you have. Who could miss them? The picture for this blog is one of my favorites, because it tells life as it is: Life is not easy, life is not perfect, but life is good. Yes, many times life is good.
And many times…
Real life is also quite raw. At FORGE we’re in a new series in Ecclesiastes which tells us about the life that is and how to live it. You can check out the videos at our website here-www.ForgeTruth.com. I’ll be blogging some of that content here to whet your appetite to dig in with us…a man needs to study the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.
So how is your real life right now? What are you going through right now and how would you characterize your life?
Look how King Solomon, the Preacher sees his life at the moment that he wrote this book:
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (ESV)
1 The words of the Preacher,[a] the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity[b] of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens[c] to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
11 There is no remembrance of former things,[d]
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things[e] yet to be
among those who come after.
So think with me—
In verses 2 & 8 how does Solomon characterize life?
What evidence does he give to prove his point?
Does this feel like your experience right now? Why? Why not?
Wrap up:
In Ecclesiastes Solomon propounds a lot of questions to draw us deeper into thinking about our life, something a lot of us guys don’t do much.
Tomorrow we’ll go the next step…but right now tell the Father what you’re feeling: Either you do feel like Solomon (life is vanity…a vapor and weariness is how you feel about life) or you don’t. Ask the Lord Jesus to enter into your life right now…real or raw…as it is!
We’ll talk some more tomorrow…
Strength and Courage!
Pete
