“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Solomon has taken us on one wild ride, hasn’t he?
I’ve felt the heights and the depths in my own life as we have worked through this study. Maybe you have too? Solomon starts us off at the beginning of the book of Ecclesiastes questioning, asking, wanting to know the meaning of life. And it felt a bit discouraging, didn’t it?
He has told us of prosperity and lack thereof. He spoke of meaning and of meaninglessness. He pondered joy and sorrow. And now we end the book – and our study – with truth. Aren’t you glad there’s encouragement here at the end?! I sure am! It’s this: the foundation of our life is the fear of the Lord and His Word. We see that God and His Word, at the end of it, is all we have to stand on. This is what makes life meaningful. This is what brings fulfillment and joy into our hearts and lives.
Keeping our eyes on eternity. Keeping eternity in our hearts. Keeping the Word of the Lord in our hearts and lives.
But how? Not just by reading the Word and walking away and forgetting. Don’t take this study, stack it on the shelf and walk away. Take the time at the end of this to reflect.
Ask God to show you His truth from this study. Ask Him to illuminate His Word and allow you to really grasp it.
What have you learned about God through this study? What does that mean for your day to day life?
What have you learned about yourself through this study? How can you remember these truths in the midst of your busy day?
What change is God asking you to make as a result of what you have learned? How can you implement this change?
Take these truths and let them work themselves down into your heart and soul. Meditate on God’s Word. Pray God’s Word. Speak God’s Word. Then rinse and repeat.
Thank Him for the work that He is doing in and through you as you dive deeper into your relationship with Him.
May He bless you richly in your life through the reading and study of His Word. May He take the truth of His holy Word and work it down deep into your heart and soul. And most of all, may you walk away changed.
Tell us in the comments: What did God do for you throughout this study? What new thing is springing up in you? We want to hear it!
With Love from Uganda,
Did you miss Wednesday’s blog post? Click here to read it!
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Introducing our summer study:
We are super excited to begin our next online Bible study starting June 6th! Stay tuned for more information in our blog post this coming Monday! Invite your friends by sharing this image on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!
Thanks so much for participating in our Ecclesiastes study! We pray it was a blessing to you!
God made me realize that apart from Him, we cannot do anything, life will be no purpose, life will be meaningless without Him….this was me when I was unbeliever, my life was exactly like this, my life was no purpose, my life was meaningless, I was lost until I met the lover of my soul, Jesus Christ, whom God sent for us to die for our sins on Cross! Oh, how I still remember that day when I asked for forgiveness for my sins, I was at the park watching my little boy playing, for some reason I spoke quietly in my heart and asked Him to forgive me, (I did not even know then that there is God) but after saying that, overwhelming peace came over me and saw the vision of Jesus Christ in my mind hang to the Cross. I know something had change inside of me and that Sunday I went to church, the priest was reading a gospel and that gospel were speaking right into me, it has meaning as if it is speaking to me directly, Oh that day was so glorious, could not contain my JOY and happiness I was feeling, so beautiful….I started attending Bible study and church….my life became meaningful and with a purpose, the best thing that ever happenend in my life when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. To God be the glory!
the good lord has opened my eyes to more than I can imagine. this is the first book i read in the bible . and the funny thing is that I just started reading the bible this June. I was raised to cherish all i have materialistically and to keep track of it all. and this book taught me none of that matters. your hard work, your bling, your toys and your possessions have no meaning if they weren’t blessing of god or should I say seen as blessing of gods work and no my selfish ways of thinking. God is so good hes filled my void on so many levels and hes defiantly my number 1. only through him will I find any and all answers and prayers, with out him I wouldn’t be where I am now and I would have what I do. and its just amazing all that I was missing out on. and I’m ready to be used by our Lord and savior for his great plan in my life. All glory to god for all his teachings and unconditional love.
v13: “fear God and keep His commands”. Wise words, but I feel there is so much more that could be added…the mercy, grace, peace and power of our great God for daily living…the joy of knowing Him and experiencing His indwelling Spirit…our glorious “for ever life” awaiting us when we pass out of this “temporary” dwelling place…oh the love of God that nothing (NOTHING) can separate us from ❤️
God has shown me in this study that we only have one life to live and that we should run our own race! Not worrying about what the future holds just live day by day because we don’t even know if tomorrow will come! Don’t hold onto unnecessary things. Look to Him each and everyday! The balance of everyday life can sometimes for me be a struggle. But when I meet with Him each morning. He’s sure to make my day much brighter. When those bumps through the day come they seem to come with much ease when I have meet with Him that morning. Truly love these LGG studies! Thank you for making them possible for all of us to glean from them.
These are two of the verses that spoke to me where I am today. They were not key verses of the book at all, but they were for me. 11:6 do not be idle in the evening…That got to me. I am lazy most evenings…I need to do at least one thing productive (besides lunches for the boys).
And 10:17 Wow! It hit me like a ton of bricks…”eat at the appropriate time– for strength and not to excess/pleasure/comfort, etc. “Eat for strength”…that’s my key phrase for food choices now!
Thank you for your words of insight. It is amazing what we miss sometimes. Especially 10:17.