UNROLL
A low wooden grain boat moves out from a rough stone quay onto wide flat water in early gray-gold light.

Live while you live

Ecclesiastes 11

You will never know enough to feel safe. Sow anyway.

10 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1Everything is futileThe Teacher states his case
  2. 2–6The searchPleasure, work, time, power, wealth
  3. 7–8What wisdom can and can't doNo one can find out what is coming
  4. 9–11Live while you liveDeath comes to all, so take the giftChapter 11
  5. 12Remember your CreatorFear God and keep His commandments

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

The Teacher
The Teacher

Cast your bread upon the waters,

for after many days you will find it again.

Divide your portion among seven, or even eight,

for you do not know what disaster may befall the land.

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The Teacher
The Teacher

If the clouds are full,

they will pour out rain upon the earth;

whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,

in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

He who watches the wind will fail to sow,

and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.

The Teacher

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

The Teacher
From low behind a sower, his arm in mid-throw and seed in the air over a fresh furrow, with a small village on the slope ahead.

Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not rest your hands in the evening,

for you do not know which will succeed,

whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

0:10

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Live it

Take it home

What have you been waiting to be sure about before you start? What is the seed you can sow this week?

Enjoy Your Years

The Teacher
An old man and his small granddaughter sit on a doorstep with bread and clay cups, faces turned up to the first warm sun.

Light is sweet,

and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

So if a man lives many years,

let him rejoice in them all.

But let him remember the days of darkness,

for they will be many.

Everything to come is futile.

Rejoice, O young man, while you are young,

and let your heart be glad 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 things

God will bring you to judgment.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

So banish sorrow from your heart,

and cast off pain from your body,

for youth and vigor are fleeting.

Question

Quick question

Joy and judgment, one verse.

What does verse 9 tell the young man to keep in mind while he rejoices?

You’ve experienced

Ecclesiastes 11

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A verse to carry with you

Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad 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 things God will bring you to judgment.

Ecclesiastes 11:9

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