Life Is A Gift
Notes
Transcript
Intro; About 4-5 years ago I preached a message from Eccl. 9 entitled, “Live Like You Were Dying.” I prefaced that message with the music video by Tim McGraw’s song about a man receiving bad news about his health. Then the question was asked, “what did you do when it sunk in?’
"I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing,
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper, And I spoke sweeter, And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"
And he said, ”Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying"
Well, this morning I want you to know that you have that chance to live that way, because we are all dying. And we need to understand that “Life Is A Gift” and what you do with that gift matters!
We are moving into the gift giving season, Christmas. Some of you have already put up your christmas trees, lights and probably have already bought gifts. And there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what you like to do. And I am confident of this one thing, that after Christmas, there won’t be any gifts left under the tree unopened! Why? Because we love getting gifts!! Amen!!
The life that we have is a gift from God and we should be more excited about His gift above all others! Life in Christ is an adventure, so let’s live it to the fullest!
Text; Eccl. 11:7- 12:8
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.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.
1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:
2 While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;
3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;
4 When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.
5 Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “All is vanity.”
There are three words I want us to focus on this morning as we look at “Life as a Gift”. Those words are; Rejoice, Remove and Remember!
1. Rejoice In Life; 7-9
1. Rejoice In Life; 7-9
Solomon encourages one to indulge life to the fullest while we have opportunity. He uses the word “rejoice” twice in these 3 verses.
Rejoice- take pleasure in, be joyful, glad, take delight in
Light represents the days of our youth [young, vibrant, but often immature], while darkness represents the aging [wise, mature, but life is slowing and challenging]. We need to rejoice in all the years of our life but our youth is a time for enjoying things we might not be able to later because of the problems of old age begin to reveal themselves.
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works.
[v.9] “Walk in the ways of your heart” and “in the sight of your eyes” is not an encouragement to go and sow your wild oats, as the world thinks. It’s a reminder for young people to make good choices in their youth because they will have to live with the consequences of their choices when they are old.
You are only young once and you should experience all of life’s adventures while you can. Don’t put restrictions on yourself that God has never placed on you!
We have this mentality that once you become a christian you can’t enjoy life. I have never read that in the scriptures!
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
While we are young, it is the best time to make good choices concerning a career, marriage, friendships, investments but most of all our relationship in Christ.
The young person who rejoices in life in the will of God will have nothing to worry about when the Lord returns to judge him!
2. Remove Sorrow/Evil; 10
2. Remove Sorrow/Evil; 10
Sorrow of heart- anxiety, grief, troubled spirit
Don’t let the cares and worries of the world rob you of the enjoyment of life God intends you to have. Don’t grow up too fast!
How often do we hear young people say they can’t wait to grow up and get out of the house, only to regret those words when they actually come about.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Evil of the flesh- physical troubles that result from the sins of the flesh like drugs, alcohol, tobacco, overeating, sexual immorality - all these are threats to a persons well being.
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Charles Spurgeon said, “youthful sins lay a foundation for aged sorrows.”
3. Remember God; 12:1-8
3. Remember God; 12:1-8
The only way to remember God when we are old is to make Him a priority while we are young!
“Days of your youth”- children should be urged to start looking at life through the lens of God’s Word. We should sow seeds of righteousness in their life and encourage them to fear God and make Jesus Lord and Savior of their life at a young age.
“Difficult days”- days of our old age, when days of pleasure are gone
It’s easy to put off till tomorrow what we should do today because we think that we have plenty of time, but we don’t. Young people die just like old folks do!
Look at what Solomon says is coming upon us before we know it as we continue to age;
[v.3] Keepers of the house - your arms and hands tremble/arthritis
Strong men- legs, knees, hips and shoulders weaken and we walk bent over
Grinders cease- you lose your teeth
Windows- your vision begins to deteriorate
[v.4] Doors/Grinding- when your hearing fails and you can’t pick up sounds anymore
Rise up- you wake up with the chickens but wish you could sleep
Music- your voice starts to weaken
[v.5] Afraid- terrified of heights [stairs], worried about stumbling and falling when you walk
Almond tree- if you have any hair left it turns white as an almond blossom
Grasshopper- you drag along like a grasshopper on a summer day. No pep in your step!
Desire- you lose your zest for life, your appetite, perhaps your sexual desire
Eternal home- you die and people mourn your death
[v.6] Silver Cord/Bowl/Pitcher/Wheel- each thing mentioned here has a reference to drawing water from the well of life. The cord that holds the bowl, the bowl that draws the water, the jar that holds the water, and the wheel for the pulley system are all broken at the bottom of the well. Life is snuffed out!
[v.7] Man/Spirit- the flesh of man will return to the dust and the spirit of man will face God in the judgment
[v.8] If we live life, the precious gift that God has afforded us, apart from Him, then that life is a worthless life and had no meaning at all! Vanity means worthless.
I want my life to count. I want my life to mean something not only to me, but to others and more importantly to God! I want my life to be remembered as a life of joy in Jesus because He removed the sorrow and evil of sin from my soul!
Close;
We need to maximize our life while we can because we can’t go back and do it over again. Today is the tomorrow that you were looking for yesterday.
You and I are going to talk to God one day about the choices we made here on earth, so we need to live “Life as a Gift” from God, because it is, but live it with the end in view. Don’t have any regrets!
So go skydiving, or Rocky Mountain climbing,
Go ride a bull named Fu Man Chu
But remember to love deeper in the love of Christ, speak sweeter words of encouragement while you can, and give forgiveness you’ve been denying.
“Take the chance and live like you were dying"
