Welcome to the last week of our Ecclesiastes study! We begin this week with some pretty confusing verses:
Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
The basic message that Solomon is telling us is that we need to live boldly.
Some believe Solomon is talking about generosity and addressing those whom the Lord has blessed with material belongings, talents, interests and special gifts. This includes all of us. We are to use our money, our homes, our time, and the things we are good at to honor God by helping those who are in need.
Too often we worry about how the other person will respond. Will they be thankful? Will they waste what I give them? Will they take it for granted? What if it has no lasting effect on them?
Don’t worry about how it will end. God will take care of that. But always be in prayer as to how you can be generous to others.
“What we invest in the kingdom of God—our time, our talent, our treasure—is never wasted.” – Philip Graham Ryken
The second interpretation for these verses is referring to boldness in various ventures or even business opportunities. We cannot predict the future. There may be an element of uncertainly, but if we feel God calling us to something we should boldly step out in faith and not shrink back in fear.
Don’t wait for perfect circumstances or the right amount of money in your bank account before you live boldly and follow the call that God has placed on your life.
Maybe God is calling you to start a business, to have more children, to go back to school, to enter full time ministry, or to care for your elderly parents. Whatever it is, follow God’s call and trust that no matter where it leads God is with you.
“When I trusted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, ‘I married adventure’; and that meant living by faith and expecting the unexpected.” -Warren W. Wiersbe
Whether the call is to give generously or to live boldly, we must all do as much good as we can while God has us here on this earth.
Solomon reminds us that like a tree that falls over and cannot be stood back up, so is a person’s character once death comes for him.
Now is the time to honor God with our character.
Now is the time to help those around us.
Now is the time to live boldly.
Looking To Jesus,
CHALLENGE WEEK 8:
Where in your life do you need to step out in faith? Where do you need to practice more generosity? What call have you been ignoring or fearful of following? Pray about these things and write out a plan as to how you can begin stepping out in faith.
MEMORY VERSE WEEK 8:
READING PLAN WEEK 8:
Thank you
I’m sorry to write this help request here but your contact link on this website is not working and I don’t subscribe to other social media in order to have the following questions answered. Sorry if this seems inappropriate.
I signed up to begin a bible study solo yesterday for the first time. I received my email the “newsletter.freepress” for the last week of a bible study already in progress, the Ecclesiastes study. I don’t want to begin this as it is the last week. My question: Will I receive email next week when a new study starts? Will it include downloadable links for the study materials needed…I didn’t see any downloadable links in the last email I received? I don’t belong to any social media websites, will I still be able to do the bible studies and receive all the necessary study material needed? Are you able to briefly explain how I begin a new bible study? The “Love God Greatly” bible studies look very interesting to me and I like the idea of using your studies to draw closer to God. Thank you for any help your able to give to help me get started.
I am new here as well, but I watched this video and at the end it showed a lot of boxes to various studies going on here. One was called Ecclesiates Week 1 so I am assuming you could start new there.
As I said, I am new here as well so this is just a guess. I recently moved so I am interested to see what the new study will be next week. Hopefully things will be more settled and I can start new.
Hope this helps you. God Bless
“Too often we worry about how the other person will respond. Will they be thankful? Will they waste what I give them? Will they take it for granted? What if it has no lasting effect on them?”
I do this! I over analyze when I help those “in need”. I don’t have a problem with giving to the needy, I just have a problem with figuring out who are the needy and will my giving be wasted. I don’t know why I do this. I guess I just want to get it right. And because I worry to much, I sometimes hold back and miss an opportunity. As I write this and think of the times of my giving, I really can’t think of any time that I have given and regretted it. I pray God will help me in this area. Thanks for the thoughtful insight. It made me look inside myself and dig deep.
Francine,
Thank you this helped, I’ll take a look.
Thank you, Jen. I always appreciate what you have to say, so I’m glad you are on the video this last week. It has been a good study, even though I wrestled with many of the verses. What does this mean? What is this saying to me? But, overall, this has been an interesting and helpful study. Thanks to all.
Thanks for these studies. Have to admit, I give but it’s hard to keep giving (with a good attitude) when others have NO response, no appreciation but thanks for the reminder from God…my part is to give, to reflect Him…the results are up to Him…again, His Timing.
Thank you for this message, it is so on time. I have been asking myself and praying on to seek the answer of what is my calling. After reading today’s message, it boldly shouted out to me, I received the answer each time I prayed on it, I was, just as you mentioned, ignoring and fearful of moving forward to bring it into fruition. At times we tend to only put into action what it is we want to hear, but God already knows the steps we should be taking. It is time to live boldly!