Memory Verse: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:…” Ecclesiastes 3:11a.
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
Introduction:
I once had a little surprise. At each plate at one of the annual Chamber of Commerce banquets I attended was an unlabeled white envelope seven inches square. When I pulled out what was inside, it had suddenly popped into a three-dimensional object. It had startled me!
It was a multi-sided object advertising Texas A&M University-Commerce. Not only was it a calendar for that current year but it also showed the continents of the earth like a glove, the sides were in the shape of twelve trapezoids with a hexagon at the top and bottom.
What made it pop into place was a rubber-band inside. When the calendar was pulled out of the envelope, the tightly stretched rubber-band drew the opposite sides together to form the three-dimensional “world.”
The geometrical curiosity was much less likely than a traditional calendar to be tossed out in the trash, it was a keeper! I liked it!
And yet for all its cleverness, it was still only a dim reflection of the real thing. The calendar was not time but only a measurement of the passing days. The map was not the world but a mere depiction of vast oceans and land masses. The tug within provided by the rubber-band was a little like the gravitational forces and other dynamics God has placed in motion in the universe holding it all together.
Really this little calendar-globe-ad was not a keeper for long, made of light materials it would not last, especially if I played with it very much. Like time too, it would come to and end someday and so will the world.
But that’s all right. What God has in store is far better than the best this world has to offer. That’s why He doesn’t want us to get too attached to the things we display on our shelves or store in our safe deposit boxes. There are treasures to be had far better than these.
When we finally see what He “pulls out of the envelope” for some day, we’ll be startled with joy. Even though His word prepares us to anticipate something too wonderful for words, it will be even better than that!
Trust Him—His timing is perfect and we shall soon see Him! –David Gibson
God has created within the human heart an inherent desire for more than just the earthly. Human beings want to live forever and find eternal value in the world and the activities of life. Consequently, material things, secular activities, and the pleasures of this earth, will never fully satisfy. The ability to enjoy life and live it properly is a gift from God that comes only when we are brought into a right relationship with Him and sincerely submit ourselves to Him as our Lord.
Study Questions:
- Discuss how changes are a necessary part of life. Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 8:6-7; Genesis 8:22; James 4:13-16.
- How have you personally experienced major changes in life? Ecclesiastes 3:2-8.
- What question does the preacher pose that would show how difficult it is to profit in this life? Ecclesiastes 3:9-10; Ecclesiastes 2:22-23.
- What confidence and appreciation does the preacher have for the workings of God? Ecclesiastes 3:11a.
- Does man possess a full understanding of God, seeing that we desire eternal life beyond this world? Ecclesiastes 3:11b; Job 11:7 (Job 38 and Job 39 also show God’s greatness); Isaiah 40:28; Romans 11:33-36.
- What is the best that men can do in this life? Ecclesiastes 3:12-14; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Isaiah 40:31.
- How does the preacher voice his total confidence in the Lord? Ecclesiastes 3:15-17.
- Why does the preacher consider men to be so similar to animals? Ecclesiastes 3:18-21.
- Why must men find their joy in their own works? Ecclesiastes 3:22.