Praise the Lord for His love that endures for ever. His love never fails. He blessed us abundantly this past weekend. It was a great treat to have Janice, Sunita, Laureen, Jessica home all together. This happens very rarely - usually only at Christmas-time. Micah and Simeon are growing up too quickly. Alice and I, and all their aunties, tried to spoil them. Micah got up early Sunday morning. She then picked her Sunday clothes and dressed herself up. She asked me if she could preach that morning. I said yes, she could preach. She walked with me to the church and sat with me by the pulpit. After some reflection she said, "Grandpa, let me preach next year; I am too little this year." Laureen played the key board and sang one of my favorite praise songs, "Mighty to Save". It was anointed. I preached from Leviticus 25:10, " Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land". The Lord blessed us. I say once again, "Better is one day in your house, O Lord, than thousand elsewhere".
There was once an elderly gentleman who loved playing golf. But he was almost eighty, and his vision was not very good anymore. He always had partners with him when he went out to play so they could watch his ball and tell him where it went. One day his buddies did not show up. It was a beautiful day for golf, and as he waited at the clubhouse he got more and more upset that he wasn’t going to get to play his round. Another elderly man in the clubhouse saw him and asked, “What’s wrong?” The man explained his predicament: “I was really looking forward to playing golf today. But I don’t see very well anymore, so I need someone to watch the ball after I hit.” The second man was even older than he was, but he said, “That’s no problem. I’ll be glad to ride around with you. I’ve got 20/20 vision. I can see like a hawk. You just hit the ball, and I’ll watch it fly right down the fairway.” So they went out on the first tee, and the old man hit the ball right down the center. He turned to his spotter. “Did you see it?” The man replied, “I saw it all the way until it stopped rolling.” “Well, where did it go?” The older man paused for a moment and then said, “I forgot.”
That just goes to show that even the best-laid plans don’t always work out – a message that we have seen over and over throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes. How are we to live in the face of the uncertainly of life? 1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. 2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth. 3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good. 7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun; 8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 (NKJV)
The author is using the casting of bread on the water as an illustration of doing something risky that won’t make sense to others who observe what is going on.
Our natural tendency in the light of uncertainty is to hoard our resources in order to protect our own interests. But the Bible instructs us to do just the opposite – to be generous with others. Both verses 1 and 2 emphasize that principle. In verse 1, we are instructed to “cast” or to “send”, not to “keep” or to “store”. Notice that the farmer could not consume all his bread corn himself as he would be left with nothing to sow. And in verse 2 we are instructed to “give”. We are invited to give to “seven and also to eight.” Remember that seven is the Hebrew number that indicates something that is complete, like seven days in a week. And then the number eight is intended to picture something that is even beyond that which is complete. So the idea here is that when we face uncertainty, we are to give completely and then even beyond that. In other words, we are to give generously. That is a principle that is confirmed in both the Old and the New Testament.
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24, 25 (NIV)
Jesus, our Lord, spoke often about the importance of giving generously and freely. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Luke 6:30-35 (NIV)
Most of us don’t have a problem giving to those that our close to us – family, friends and fellow believers. But Jesus took it a step further. We are even to give to those who are enemies – both our enemies as well as those who are enemies of the Kingdom of God.
Much of what the Bible commands us to do really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to most of the world, or sometimes even to us. When uncertainty is rampant, it doesn’t make sense to give to others rather than hoard for ourselves. The only way we are able to move beyond our fears is to trust God.
In light of the uncertainties we face, our natural tendency is to withdraw and to try and protect that which we already have. However, we are to do just the opposite. We need to take a risk - to sow into the lives of others, to be generous with our time, talent and treasure, to make a decision and work hard and trust God for the results, and to enjoy whatever days God gives us on this earth.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y
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