Ecclesiastes 11
McGeeCHAPTER 11This chapter gives the best course to follow for the do-gooder, for the moral man, the man who wants to live the good life and wants to go down the middle, neither hot nor cold, neither right nor left.
Ecclesiastes 11:1
Don’t be afraid of doing good, although the reward may be late in arriving.
Ecclesiastes 11:2
When you are doing good, be sure to help more than one person. Help quite a few people because you may get into trouble yourself at some later time, and there will be many people who will be willing to help you. The Lord Jesus told a parable along this line, and it is recorded in Luke 16. There was an “unjust” steward who was really a crook. He made friends for himself by reducing their debts to his master, so that when he lost his job he could go to them for help.
Ecclesiastes 11:3
If rain is predicted, you had better carry an umbrella. After a big redwood tree falls, it is hard to move it. What is he saying here? It is best to have a clear understanding of a situation at the very beginning before you launch a venture because, after it begins, it is very difficult to make any change.
Ecclesiastes 11:4
That is, act wisely in what you do. If a man wants to sow seed, he had better wait until there is no wind. If a man wants to reap a harvest, he will not begin if rain is threatening.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
The formation of the fetus and the physical birth of a baby are still great mysteries today. Spiritual rebirth is an even greater mystery. You do not know how the Spirit will move. The Lord Jesus said that. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (Joh_3:8). There is a great deal that we do not know. I believe his point is simply this: Don’t let what you don’t know disturb what you do know. Let me give an example. Any person knows enough to sit in a chair. There is an empty chair in my study right now. I don’t mind getting up and going over there to sit down. Now there are a lot of things I don’t know about that chair. I don’t know anything about its constructionwho made it or how it was madebut I do know that I can sit in that chair and it will hold me up. That is really all I need to know about the chair. So don’t let what you don’t know disturb what you do know.
Ecclesiastes 11:7
Some day you will get old, my friend. Life for the senior citizen is not always as pleasant as the advertising folders say it is going to be.
Ecclesiastes 11:9
Remember, young man, now is the time to make your decisions in every category of life. It is very important that you make the right choices now. How many men have lived wasted lives and are living them today, because they made the wrong choices in their youth. Your youthful days are empty if they are not lived right. Life is a gift that is given to us by God, given one day at a time, in fact, one second at a time. It is a precious gift, and it is to be used for the glory of God. What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.