WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.760 Now, we can turn in our Bibles to the short section of Ecclesiastes we'll be looking at 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:26.240 this evening, Ecclesiastes chapter 11, and the first six verses. As we hear more wisdom from 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:37.039 our preacher, here are things to know when you just don't know. Ecclesiastes chapter 11, 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.539 page 678, if you're using a church Bible, where we read, 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:47.899 Ship your grain across the sea. After many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:55.159 yes, in eight. You do not know what disaster may come upon the land. If clouds are full of water, 00:00:55.159 --> 00:01:00.699 they pour rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where 00:01:00.699 --> 00:01:06.840 it falls, there it will lie. Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:13.039 will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, 00:01:13.479 --> 00:01:20.299 so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:27.439 and at evening let your hands not be idle. For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, 00:01:27.979 --> 00:01:36.120 or whether both will do equally well. Amen. So all the way through, and if you've been here while 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:42.840 we've looked at Ecclesiastes, you'll understand that the teacher wants to change our perspective. We all 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:49.259 come at life from a certain perspective because of who we are, because of where we come from and our 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:56.080 background, maybe because of the team that we support, or the work that we do, the age and stage 00:01:56.080 --> 00:02:04.340 that we are. We all have a certain perspective upon life, and the teacher wants to encourage us 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:09.300 towards a different perspective than we might typically like to assume. 00:02:10.980 --> 00:02:17.500 So we've heard him a number of times in this book say, here's how to consider what it looks like to live 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:28.560 well. And what he does is he takes us to a gravesite. You cannot live well until you recognize the reality 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:39.420 of death. He takes us to consider the future while confronting us with life's unpredictability. 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:50.599 And he's constantly reminding us about the reality of God while we live under the sun, and it can be so 00:02:50.599 --> 00:03:00.000 easy to forget the reality of God. Well, today's lesson, I think, is a really timely one for our age. 00:03:01.019 --> 00:03:07.399 We are the age and generation where there has never been so much information available to us, 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:15.500 neither has there ever been so much choice. There's choice about everything, whether you buy a car, 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:22.099 whether you're wanting to choose a restaurant for a meal, and there are so many ways to make a decision. 00:03:23.040 --> 00:03:28.700 We can find out about detailed specifications. We can read hundreds and thousands of customer reviews. 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:35.500 We can go to Instagram feeds. We can watch videos. And the list goes on. 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:43.460 And what can happen, and maybe you identify with this, is that you can be paralyzed by the number 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:50.319 of choices confronting us. If you ever go to the Sainsbury's cereal aisle, you get that sense of 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.539 paralysis, if you're anything like me. Or, on the other hand, some people have that sense of being, 00:03:55.400 --> 00:04:01.580 experiencing the paralysis of analysis. I know I need to make a purchase, but there's so much 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:06.240 information. It all just seems overwhelming. Is this the ideal, or is it this one? 00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:13.360 We can suffer the fear of missing out, FOMO, but also the fear of better options. If I choose this, 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:19.220 that means saying no to that. What if that's the thing? And that, I hope in a little way, 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:26.900 points to a difficulty that the preacher in Ecclesiastes also reminds us of. The truth that we see less, 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:35.519 we understand less, and we control less than we care to admit. So again, the question becomes, 00:04:35.719 --> 00:04:42.500 in that perspective, how do we live wisely? How do we invest our resources? How do we invest 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:50.739 ourselves wisely when there are many things that we don't know? And so chapter 11, verses 1 to 6, 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:58.360 is yet another humble reminder that while we don't know, God does, and God is in control. And that's 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:08.120 always an invitation to rest. But there's also in this section, positive instruction. It made me think 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:15.620 of Kevin DeYoung, his book on guidance. If you're ever looking for a helpful, practical book on guidance, 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:21.519 Kevin DeYoung has a book with a really long title, but the main headline is, I think, just do something. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:27.019 And if you read the book, you'll understand where he's coming from. But we're going to think about 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:34.360 that. So in this chapter, in these verses rather, you'll see that there are many things that we don't 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:43.980 know. So let's consider three things that we do not know as people. First of all, we do not know 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:52.080 the future. So we're going to go back to verses 1 and 2. Now, in the NIV Church Bible, it talks about 00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:58.020 ship your grain across the sea. But I imagine, if you've ever read this before, you're much more 00:05:58.020 --> 00:06:05.600 familiar with the idea, cast your bread upon the waters. So the NIV is like, I presume imagining that 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.879 that could be confusing. Because what happens if you cast your bread upon the waters? You have soggy bread, 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:17.680 and it sinks. We don't really understand where that comes from. Church history has always understood 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:27.379 that as a reference to either trading by sea or to generous giving. The NIV has gone for the trading 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:32.699 image of ship your grain by sea. So let me read verses 1 and 2 with the ESV, where it says, 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:39.639 cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven or even 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:48.000 to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. Okay, but for now, we'll come back to that. 00:06:48.099 --> 00:06:54.079 But notice the two things that are unclear. It's there in the ESV, it's there in the NIV. You may 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:03.620 positively receive a return, or negatively, disaster may come, and you do not know. So think about 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:09.879 investments. You know, we invest in a startup, or we invest in stocks and shares. The profit could go 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:15.799 through the roof, or the company could go bust, and we could lose our money. We send in an application, 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:22.519 we could get our dream job, or we could be forced to keep on looking. If it's true that success takes us 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:29.919 by surprise, I think even more so, it's disaster that takes us by surprise. This week, I was reading 00:07:29.919 --> 00:07:38.599 an interview with the son of one of the many Titanic builders. Obviously, there was hundreds and hundreds 00:07:38.599 --> 00:07:45.279 of people involved in the building of the Titanic, and that boy spoke of his pride at watching the 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:51.479 Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage. My dad helped to build that. Nobody expected 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:58.740 the disaster that would come. We know, don't we, that the future is not certain, 00:07:59.780 --> 00:08:06.780 but often we live and act as if it is. Well, if I have it written up in my kitchen diary, then it must 00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:14.480 be fixed in stone. If I've got it in my phone calendar, then it certainly will happen. And we can 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:21.819 often be surprised and frustrated when things don't work out. How would life be different if we really 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:27.140 believed that we didn't know the future and we trusted God was in control? So, our author reminds 00:08:27.140 --> 00:08:34.200 us that we don't know the future. Then he reminds us, secondly, that we don't know the work of God. 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:40.200 Look with me at verse 5. As you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:46.440 mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God. So, here in Scotland, we are doing really 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:52.040 well with wind energy. Obviously, we have the natural resources there all over the place, whether 00:08:52.040 --> 00:09:00.520 that's onshore or offshore. Scottish wind companies are in some areas leading the way. We have learned 00:09:00.520 --> 00:09:08.220 to harness the wind, but of course we know that we cannot set the direction of the wind, nor can we 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:19.060 predict where those currents are going to flow. When it comes to the unborn, we can see, and it's 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:27.019 wonderful to see those high-resolution 3D ultrasounds, so we can see tiny, tiny babies as they are 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:35.420 developing, but still nobody knows how life actually begins. We might understand the science, but why is it? 00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:42.179 Why is it that cells split at just the right time to create body parts and organs, and how is it that 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:50.219 they fit together the way that they do? And so, the teacher uses these as just two examples to remind us 00:09:50.219 --> 00:09:58.159 that we cannot know, we cannot understand the work and the ways of God our Maker. Now, why is he doing 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:07.159 that? He's wanting to give us the appropriate perspective as people, and I think so that as Christians, we would 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:17.500 find contentment. Christian contentment comes when we can rest in the good and wise providence of God. As the old hymn 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:25.379 puts it, whatever my God ordains, whatever my God plans for me is right. To be able to say that and mean it, that's 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:31.340 contentment. It gives us freedom from trying to control and answer every question. Instead, it gives 00:10:31.340 --> 00:10:38.340 us the freedom to trust, and when we're living with trust and rest, then we're in a position to enjoy 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:46.580 today as a gift, which is where he comes back to so often. So, we cannot understand the future, we cannot 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:53.840 understand the work of God, and we do not know, thirdly, the way to guarantee success. Look at verse 6. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:59.360 So, your seed in the morning and evening, let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:05.860 succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Success is something that matters 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:12.420 to us, isn't it? Even if it's our games and our hobbies, certainly with our projects, we want to do 00:11:12.420 --> 00:11:19.220 well at education, with our career, we want to see our church do well, have success in terms of growth, 00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:27.259 of maturity and growing numbers. Success matters. Ambition is good. Planning is good. Strategy is good. 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:36.279 Hard work is good. But our preacher wants us to remember there is no way to know this sure thing 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:43.940 in life. Work on two plans, work on two projects, we'll never know, we'll either, we'll both come good. 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:51.660 Choose between two decisions, we will never know how the other decision would have panned out. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:12:01.580 We can't guarantee success over failure, because we do not know and we cannot control the future. 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:10.340 Choosing a job, buying a used car, planting a church, sharing Jesus with a friend. There are so 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:19.980 many examples of things that we do and we're called to do, but we cannot guarantee success over failure. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:28.120 Again, as we consider that, and I'm sure we all recognize that, how do we feel about that? 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:35.639 What we don't know can be unsettling sometimes, can't it? And so the preacher has this really 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:44.220 realistic wisdom in the trenches for us. As people who like control and certainty, perhaps if we trust 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:52.480 predictions, it can be hard to discover that's not how life works. So the question becomes, 00:12:53.480 --> 00:13:00.559 what should we do when we don't know these things? What do we need to know when we don't know the 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:06.959 future? What success might turn out? We don't know what God's going to do. Because we want to avoid, 00:13:07.019 --> 00:13:12.539 and the preacher wants us to avoid paralysis that we were talking about. He also would want us to 00:13:12.539 --> 00:13:17.500 avoid fatalism, where we just shrug our shoulders and, well, say it doesn't really matter what we do. 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:26.859 We need to hear, what does biblical wisdom teach? And here we find there are three things to know. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:39.340 And the first of these is in verses 3 and 4, that we don't just sit there. When we've got decisions, 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:46.320 when there's tasks to do, we don't just sit there. If clouds are full of water, they pour rain on the 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:51.279 earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls there, it will lie. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.320 Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:02.399 We're invited, I think, here to picture a Middle Eastern farmer. Okay, so farmers, people who work 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:08.960 the land, they know predictable signs. I'm guessing we would know these signs. If there are clouds and 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:15.480 they're gray, they're going to bring rain. We know that when winds pick up, they can knock over trees. 00:14:16.560 --> 00:14:23.899 This, of course, matters for the farmer's work. When it comes to sowing, remember when people were 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:31.639 sowing by hand, the ideal is when there's no wind. That way you can control dispersal. You don't lose 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:41.319 your seed before it ever has a chance to take root. When it comes to harvest time, the ideal is no rain. 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:50.500 What's the lesson from the farmer's story? Whoever watches the wind will not plant. Whoever looks at the 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:59.080 clouds will not reap. Don't wait for ideal conditions, because life seldom works out that way. 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:09.380 It's as if the preacher in Ecclesiastes is saying, avoid analysis paralysis. Don't be so busy reading the 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:16.620 sky when it's time to be doing some work. When we understand that there's no sure thing in farming, 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:23.759 and there's no sure thing in life that shouldn't stop us working. It shouldn't stop us doing. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:32.980 Rather, we work, and we work hard and well, and we rest in the knowledge that our times are in God's 00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:43.759 hands. Verses 3 and 4 don't just sit there. It's realistic wisdom. Is there ever an ideal time for 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:49.360 anything? It's never an ideal time for a career change, but sometimes it's really good to make 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:56.300 that change. It's never an ideal time if we sit down and analyze it to move city, or to start or grow a 00:15:56.300 --> 00:16:01.639 family, or to begin a new ministry, or to tell your story of faith. You could always say, well, I'm going to 00:16:01.639 --> 00:16:07.080 put that off. I'm going to leave that decision behind because it doesn't feel ideal. But the 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:12.819 teacher, I think, is saying to us, don't miss God-given opportunities while you're trying to 00:16:12.819 --> 00:16:19.319 read the signs, while you're waiting for a perfect moment. Rather, we work and we trust. 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:26.200 Especially when we think about work, we're told, you know, since the fall into sin in the garden, 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:33.580 I remember God's words to Adam as the ground came under a curse, that work brings with it thorns and 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:39.920 thistles. It brings toil and frustration. But at the same time, the Bible tells us from the beginning 00:16:39.920 --> 00:16:48.360 that work is still good. And so we should still use those opportunities, take those opportunities, 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:57.100 and we should enjoy the gift of work and the tasks that are before us. To think about that parable, 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:06.519 in Matthew 25, there was the lazy servant who didn't work for the kingdom and who didn't feel 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:13.200 the conditions were ideal. He didn't feel his king was ideal, and he suffered loss. He didn't enter into 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:20.500 his master's happiness. So Ecclesiastes tells us, don't just sit there. The second part of that 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:31.799 statement, don't just sit there. Do something. Back to verse 1, cast your bread upon the waters. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.700 So again, people through history, church history, have seen this either as, 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:46.220 take risks in trading. Be bold. Be wise, but be bold. Spread your net. Trade by sea. Or, 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:54.680 on the other hand, take risks by being generous. By being generous to the poor. But we do that 00:17:54.680 --> 00:18:00.840 understanding that we don't know, is this going to work out really well? Or is it going to work out 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:09.579 badly? But the preacher says that shouldn't stop us doing and trying. So he says to us in verse 2, 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:17.879 give a portion to seven or even to eight. Be wise. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Invest your 00:18:17.879 --> 00:18:25.899 resources widely. When it says invest in seven or even eight, it's that idea of going beyond 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:33.340 completeness. The idea is the idea of being open-handed. Being open-handed when it comes to our 00:18:33.340 --> 00:18:43.380 resources. Hold loosely to our money and to our possessions. Remember what Jesus said, don't store up 00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:49.200 for yourself treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:56.559 up for yourself treasure in heaven. So be open-handed in that sense of holding loosely to money and stuff, 00:18:56.660 --> 00:19:01.799 recognizing it's not ultimate and it's not permanent, but also be open-handed in the sense of generous 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:11.559 giving. As Paul calls us to, whoever sows generously will also reap generously because God loves cheerful 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:18.220 giver. So you think about it. So he's telling us you're never going to know how things are going to 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:24.000 pan out and there's never going to be an ideal. So our temptation, I imagine, will be, well, let me 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:31.600 hold on to my resources. Let me hoard my resources until that ideal arrives. But know here, biblical 00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:38.900 wisdom is calling us to be open-handed with our resources regardless of the situation and the 00:19:38.900 --> 00:19:48.140 circumstances. That we're ready to take risks. Ready to take risks with our money. Being ready to 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:54.280 give. Being ready to give to charities. Being ready to give to mission. It's not money down the drain. 00:19:54.380 --> 00:20:01.420 It's investing in the kingdom of God. Wouldn't it be wonderful to meet someone in heaven? And it turned 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:06.160 out that they were there because our giving, as small as it might have been, gave them the access 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:11.200 to the Bible that let them know about Jesus. Or we supported the missionary who went and told them 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:19.420 good news. Be open-handed with our money. Be open-handed with our time. Maybe that's the resource 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:25.140 that's most precious and most pressurized on us. But there are going to be times where we have to be 00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:33.700 willing to exhaust ourselves to serve others. To serve and to show kindness. Whether we feel like it 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:39.519 or not. Whether it's going to be received with great thankfulness or to be taken for granted. 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:48.000 Be open-handed with our gifts. Especially as we remember as Christians that God gives each one of us 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:56.100 a spiritual gift or gift for the sake of the church. That we would use those gifts generously. 00:20:56.099 --> 00:21:05.799 not saying it's my gift or it's my time. It's my independence. If we remember as Christians that 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:14.659 whatever we do for God matters, it's never a wasted investment. Remember when Jesus said, 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:22.559 even someone who gives just a cup of water in my name will certainly not lose their reward. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:31.259 Or what Jesus said in Luke 14, as he spoke to a group of people who loved hosting lavish meals for 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:35.819 one another. He said, how about this? How about the next time you're thinking of hosting a meal, 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:43.039 why not invite the poor? They won't be able to repay you. But if you do it for God, you'll be repaid at 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:50.220 the resurrection. Whatever we do for God is never a wasted investment. So we should not just sit there, 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:55.140 we should do something, and we should be open-handed with our time, with our resources. 00:21:56.140 --> 00:22:02.740 Go to verse 6. We hear him say something slightly different. Sow your seed in the morning and at 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:08.220 evening, let your hands not be idle. For you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:15.299 or whether both will do equally well. Notice the activity. Yes, you should sow. Yes, you should work. 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:22.680 No, you should not be idle. You should take every opportunity when you can, even when we don't know 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:30.099 if it's going to prosper or not, even as we don't know God's plan. But again, our preacher is saying, 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:39.940 don't be paralyzed by that. Rather, invest yourself wisely and work hard and work well. 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:48.240 Well, to go back to the New Testament wisdom book of James, that passage we read in chapter 4, 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:52.960 if you remember it, how did he describe our lives? He used Ecclesiastes kind of language, 00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:57.820 our life is like a mist. Therefore, we shouldn't make those plans and imagine they're fixed. 00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:01.460 You know, in a year's time, we'll do this or that, and we'll trade, and then we'll move, 00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:06.799 and we'll do this. Rather, we should say, if the Lord wills. That should be our heart attitude. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:14.579 We shouldn't presume our future plans are going to work out. But did you notice there was still a 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:23.799 command at the end? It said, we should do the good that we are called to do. So even as we recognize 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:32.139 life is fragile, even as our future is uncertain, we work hard and well for the Lord. 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:40.180 And to use this image of sowing, that would include, wouldn't it, sowing God's Word, 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:47.120 to borrow from the parable that Jesus taught of the sower and the different soils, encourages us 00:23:47.120 --> 00:23:54.540 to tell people the Word of God, to share the gospel, even when we don't know the results. 00:23:55.380 --> 00:24:01.680 What difference will it make if I read the Bible with my neighbor? What difference will it make if I 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:07.960 have an opportunity to share my faith with my colleague? We don't know. But we trust, and we 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:15.500 leave the results up to God, and we work in His strength. So we shouldn't just sit there. Now, we 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:21.420 should do something. And the third thing to know, and we've heard it so many times from the preacher, 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:30.080 is this, that God is in control. All of the uncertainty that we face, all the lack of control 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:35.039 that we experience is more than met by the goodness, the wisdom, the power of God. 00:24:36.639 --> 00:24:41.720 You know, we don't know whether our giving or investing will meet with success or failure, 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:48.419 but God does. Now, we don't know how to direct the path of the wind or how a child is formed in a 00:24:48.419 --> 00:24:55.759 mother's womb, but God does. We don't know which one of our plans will succeed, but God does. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:05.680 And so the response, the perspective the teacher is inviting is trust, to trust Him, to rest in His 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:14.740 loving rule. And especially as the theme here is work, that we would then enjoy work as a gift, 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:21.079 whether that's our vocation, whether that's what we're doing in our home, whatever it is, 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:29.139 Colossians 3 verse 17, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord 00:25:29.139 --> 00:25:36.960 Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Remembering, too, the earlier lesson in the 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:43.139 book of Ecclesiastes, the limits of work. As we work hard, we remember our work is not ultimate. 00:25:43.679 --> 00:25:50.500 Our work does not define us. Success or failure, employment, unemployment does not define the child 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:59.000 of God. Rather, we're always invited to work resting in the work of the Lord Jesus. We rest in 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:06.400 His completed work, His finished work, His saving work. When we don't know any sure things in this 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:16.140 life, here is the one sure thing we need. Jesus has completed the work of salvation, and to trust in 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:21.940 Him is to be forgiven and to have eternal life. Let's pray together. 00:26:25.780 --> 00:26:36.020 Lord, our God, we thank You that all of our lives matter to You. Especially we think about work and 00:26:36.020 --> 00:26:44.140 investing our money and our time and our resources. Thank You for reminding us that while we're not sure 00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:48.940 how things will work, You are the God who knows, you are the God who knows, and You call us to work. 00:26:49.560 --> 00:26:55.720 You would call us to be wise in how we work, that we would seek wisdom from Your Word. We would seek 00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:04.000 wisdom from trusted and mature Christian believers and to pray. But You also call us to act. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:13.599 You call us to act. You call us to act, to live for You in whatever You call us to today and tomorrow and 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:21.279 every day of our lives. And so we pray that You would help us, help us not to be so unsettled or so 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:29.339 paralyzed by uncertainty, but rather that we would trust in You, the God who is in control, 00:27:29.339 --> 00:27:36.399 the God who is good, that we would entrust our lives to You and then we would work at whatever 00:27:36.399 --> 00:27:42.339 You place before us, that we would work hard and we would work well. Lord, especially that You would 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:50.199 help us to work hard in sowing the seed of God's Word. For parents that we would be faithful in sowing 00:27:50.199 --> 00:27:56.339 the seed of God's Word in the lives of our children and young people. For us as, 00:27:56.339 --> 00:28:04.679 who lead Bible studies or who preach and teach, help us to be faithful to what Your Word says. 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:11.339 And we pray that even this week You might give us opportunities to share something from Your Word, 00:28:11.439 --> 00:28:16.379 something of the gospel that would encourage a believer, that would cause someone who's not yet 00:28:16.379 --> 00:28:25.699 a follower of Jesus to think about what really matters and to think about all that Jesus offers in the 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:29.640 gospel. So help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:28:33.299 --> 00:28:41.940 And now let's close by singing the hymn, My Times Are In Your Hand. And we'll stand as we sing together. 00:28:55.700 --> 00:29:23.019 My Times Are In Your Hand. My God, I wish them there. My life, my friends, my soul, 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:30.019 I leave entirely to You.