Posts that reference the book of Ecclesiastes

Study Tip: Ecclesiastes

My husband counts Ecclesiastes among his favorite books of the Bible. It's Solomon's frank admission of the failure of worldly wisdom and pleasure-seeking. If you read his story in 1 Kings you'll find he learned these lessons the hard way. There's a tinge of sad pleading for us to heed the words, as well as a knowing resignation that most of us won't.

What to look for as you read Ecclesiastes-

Key words –

Vanity (or meaningless, emptiness, or pointless depending on your translation) – What does Solomon label as vain?
Under the sun – (This indicates the natural activities of life, not necessarily evil, but not especially God-centered either) What happens "under the sun"?
I saw – Take note of Solomon's observation's and commentary
Profit – What things are worthwhile and which aren't

Questions to consider-

What is the central question Solomon tries to answer?
Where does Solomon try to find meaning? What results does his search produce?
What conclusions does he reach?

Now here's a tough application question-

Have you ever looked for answers or meaning apart from God and His ways? How did it work out? What advice can you give as a result of your experience?

God’s Words

By Paula Wiseman

Also, do not take to heart everything people say… (Eccl. 7:21)

But it's hard not to.

However, God's words are the ones that count and He said "I have loved you with an everlasting love…" Jeremiah 31:3

and "You did not choose Me, but I chose you…" (John 15:16).

Loved eternally.

Chosen.

What can you say to that?

(This is an encore post.)

Bored?

By Paula Wiseman

One evening not too long ago, my son announced he was bored. You remember what that was like, to be ten and have nothing to do. It wasn't that there was 'nothing' to do, he just didn't want to do any of the 'somethings' that were available. He wasn't being adequately entertained. When we pressed him though, the truth came out. His sisters were busy. He had no audience. He wasn't the center of attention.

As adults, we still get bored, but many times we come up with better names for it- We're dissatisfied. Unsettled. Restless.

And the root causes are often the same. We aren't being entertained or we aren't getting enough attention.

So Jon and I and the two older kids talked about how to combat boredom. What could we replace it with? Here's what we came up with-

Diligence – "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…" Ecclesiastes 9:10
Humility – "But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Romans 9:20
Gratefulness – Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8
Contentment – "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have." Hebrews 13:5
Perspective – "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2

How do you fight off boredom?

Keep Writing

By Paula Wiseman

After each revision of Contingency, I have worked on drafting a new story. That gives me a break from the intensity of editing and gets me back to the rush of creating something new. That said, this latest draft has been the toughest one yet. The thing doesn’t want to go together at all. It’s like trying to reason with a left-handed Southern woman *ahem*.

It proves what I’ve suspected- writing books is like raising children. No two are exactly alike. Some are easy to write/raise and some are problem children. There won’t be any tried and true system for cranking out books in my future.

I am trying to read the backlog of blog emails that accumulated over Christmas. That still counts as reading, right?

I’ve added a host of new Facebook friends- yay!

I downloaded Amazon’s Kindle for PC app (They have one for phones, too!) Check it out.

My daughter tried to install it. I grow less impressed with Vista all the time.

Sometimes, I type along, and God stops me and says, “Excuse me, but did you read what you just wrote?” Last Thursday, I was writing about my husband and our first date. I finished the post with this-

God’s plans aren’t always packaged the way we expect, nor do they proceed in a typical fashion. An early disaster isn’t always an indication of future ones. Hang in there.

“The end of a thing is better than its beginning.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

God said, “Did you get that? Keep writing!”

CB054586 After each revision of Contingency, I have worked on drafting a new story. That gives me a break from the intensity of editing and gets me back to the rush of creating something new. That said, this latest draft has been the toughest one yet. The thing doesn’t want to go together at all. It’s like trying to reason with a left-handed Southern woman *ahem*. It proves what I’ve suspected- writing books is like raising children. No two are exactly alike. Some are easy to write/raise and some are problem children. There won’t be any tried and true system for cranking out books in my future.

I am trying to read the backlog of blog emails that accumulated over Christmas. That still counts as reading, right?

I’ve added a host of new Facebook friends- yay!

I downloaded Amazon’s Kindle for PC app (They have one for phones, too!) Check it out. My daughter tried to install it. I grow less impressed with Vista all the time.

God’s plans aren’t always packaged the way we expect, nor do they proceed in a typical fashion. An early disaster isn’t always an indication of future ones. Hang in there. “The end of a thing is better than its beginning.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

God said, “Did you get that? Keep writing!”

Twenty Years After the Bad Beginning

By Paula Wiseman

Tuesday is dedicated to Study Tips so I didn’t mention it then, but January 5th marked the 20th anniversary of my first date with my husband. (Yes, I keep track.) That evening was a series of disasters. Jon got lost and was 45 minutes late. We went to a restaurant that had absolutely nothing for me on the menu- authentic Mexican. I’m more of a sissy-have-a-little-chili-powder-in the-room-and-call-it-Mexican type. I had five refills, I think, trying to quench the burning from whatever I ordered.

s42600cb103632_22 After all this, we missed the movie and had to wait an hour and a half to catch the next one. Awkward. Then when it was all over, he didn’t kiss me goodnight. I figured that was the end of that. And then I didn’t hear from him until February 8th.

I didn’t know it then, but Jon operated on a different schedule than most. Of course, we had that second date, and all the ones that followed, and in April we’ll celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.

God’s plans aren’t always packaged the way we expect, nor do they proceed in a typical fashion. An early disaster isn’t always an indication of future ones. Hang in there.

“The end of a thing is better than its beginning.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

Whose words?

By Paula Wiseman

: Image by wa?.ti? via Flickr

I don’t have any profound words today- Just some that God said…

Also, do not take to heart everything people say… (Eccl. 7:21)

But it’s hard not to. However, God’s words are the ones that count and He said “I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3 and “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16).
Then there’s Isaiah 43:1-3. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

I need to focus on God’s words which are eternal truth.