The Search for Not Wasting Life
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes. It’s an 8 week teaching series we’re calling The Good Life. We only have 2 weeks left in this series, and it’s been a series about finding satisfaction and purpose in daily life. What we’re talking about specifically today is not wasting your life. We’re talking about not wasting your life pursuing things that have a brief shelf life. So many people are working hard pursuing things that have a brief shelf life. In the 90’s people pursued Furbies, Beanie Babies, pagers, and slap bracelets...In the 2000’s people pursued Blackberry phones, Razr phones, IPod Minis, and MySpace...In the 2010’s people pursued iPhones, iPads, PS4’s, and Bennie Babies had a little comeback...But as popular as all those things were, they all had a brief shelf life. Even the iPhones, iPads, and PlayStations have a brief shelf life, because they’re always getting updated with new technology. The iPhone has 15 generations, the iPad has 12 generations, and PlayStation has 5 generations, so they have a brief shelf life too!
My point is we’re like a bunch of sheep running from one end of the sheep pen to the other, pursuing all kinds of things that don’t have a very long shelf life. We’re working hard, running hard, and we rarely ever stop to ask why?...Why are we working so hard in life?...Why are we running so hard in life, and what are we even running towards?...It's an important question, because the products and things we’re pursuing aren’t the only things with a brief shelf life. Our very own lives have a brief shelf life! We need to reflect on why we’re running and what we’re running towards, so we don’t waste our lives. We need to run our brief lives with a purpose, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Let’s turn to Ecclesiastes 12 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle, keep turning left, you’ll find Ecclesiastes. We’ll be in Ecclesiastes 12:1-11, and the title of the message is The Search For Not Wasting Life. The big idea of the message is to remember your Creator, and don’t waste your life...Remember your Creator, and don’t waste your life...
Here’s your context. The author of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon who’s one of the wisest, wealthiest, most powerful kings in history. He’s a man who experienced a lot of life, he made a lot of mistakes in life, and he wrote Ecclesiastes towards the end of his life so we can learn from his mistakes. As we read this we need to picture him as a wise old teacher, a wise old grandpa, who’s teaching us a few things about life. In ch’s 10-11 Solomon again repeats several topics he’s already addressed in previous chapters, so we’re picking it up in ch 12 where he teaches us to not waste our life. He ends ch 11 teaching the younger generation that they won’t be young forever, and in ch 12 he’ll give us a little glimpse of what it’s like getting older in life. Let’s check it out.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 states, “So remember your Creator in the days of your youth…” Throughout Ecclesiastes Solomon’s been repeatedly teaching us to remember our Creator. He’s been repeatedly teaching us to remember God. In Genesis 1-2 we learn God created the world with so many good things for us to enjoy, but we often turn those good things into ultimate things that we crave more than our Creator. So Solomon’s been repeatedly teaching us to remember our Creator, and to crave our Creator more than creation. This entails more than just seeking God in your morning quiet time. It entails actively seeking God throughout the day, and seeking God as your greatest pursuit in the day. God doesn’t just need to be a footnote in your life; he needs to be the author of your life, and the greatest pursuit in your life. Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” We need to remember to wake up and run with the purpose of keeping our eyes on Jesus as the author of our lives and the greatest pursuit in our lives. Solomon says we need to remember our Creator, and we need to remember to crave our Creator more than creation.
Now he’s specifically sharing this wisdom with the younger generation, and it’s because the younger generation often thinks they have their entire lives ahead of them. They aren’t sitting around thinking about how short life is, they’re often thinking they have their entire lives ahead of them!...See the middle-aged generation often thinks about the past, the present, and sometimes freaks out about the future. It’s called a midlife crisis, because they’re freaking out over half their life being gone, and they’re wondering if everything they’ve been working so hard for is even worth it. They’re wondering if they need to make some changes in life, and if it’s too late for them to even make those changes...Like the middle-aged generation, the older generation thinks about the past and present too, but they’re more focused on the limited time that’s left in their future. They know they don’t have a lot of time left, so they start adjusting their will, planning funeral arrangements, creating a bucket list, and start checking things off before they kick the bucket...My point is the younger generation doesn’t reflect on how short life is as often as middle and older generations do, because they often think they have their entire lives ahead of them. So Solomon’s addressing the younger generation, but his wisdom applies to every generation. He wants all of us to reflect on how short life is, so we don’t waste our lives craving and pursuing things with a brief shelf life. He wants all of us to remember our Creator, and to crave our Creator more than creation.
Again vs. 1, “So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them;’ 2 before the sun and the light are darkened, and the moon and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain; 3 on the day when the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, the women who grind grain cease because they are few, and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,” Solomon’s using symbolisms to describe what it’s like getting older, and in these verses he mentions four things. The 1st thing he says is when the guardians of the house get old they tremble, meaning they get the shakes. We won’t be as sturdy as we used to be, because we’ll have the shakes. The 2nd thing he says is the strong men will stoop, meaning they’re hunched over. Our back and leg muscles won’t be as strong, and it’ll cause us to be a little hunched over. The 3rdthing he says is the women grinding grain will cease, because they are few, meaning their teeth are few. They didn’t have good dentalcare back then like we have today, so they’d lose their teeth and couldn’t grind grain or food with their teeth anymore. But even today our teeth and gums will get softer as we get old, and we’ll have to be careful we don’t crack a tooth when we eat. The 4th thing he says is the ones who watch through the windows will see dimly, meaning they lose some of their eyesight. When we get older our we’ll have to blow up the computer screen, get multi-purpose glasses, use a flashlight to walk in the house at night, and avoid driving in the dark, because we’ll see dimly. Solomon’s describing to the younger generation what it’s like getting older.
Vs. 4, “The doors at the street are shut while the sound of the mill fades; when one rises at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song grow faint.” He says the sound of the mill fades, and the daughters of song grow faint, meaning they lose some of their hearing too. When we get older we can’t hear the sounds and music like we used to, because our hearing will grow faint. My father used to say that losing his hearing was sometimes a blessing, because if my mother was talking too much, he’d just hit the mute button on his hearing aid...He’d also do the same thing if the grandkids were too loud. Solomon’s saying we’ll lose our hearing as we get older.
Vs. 5, “Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring...” Solomon mentions three more things about getting older, and the 1st thing is the dangers on the road, which is describing an older person having to watch their step. We’ll have to worry about tripping, losing our balance, falling and breaking an arm or hip sending us to rehab for months. The 2nd thing he mentions is the almond tree blossoms, which is describing an older person having grey hair, because when an almond tree blossoms it turns white. So the older we get the more grey hair we get. But we also start losing hair where want it, and growing hair in places we don’t want it. It starts growing out of our nose and ears like a chia pet. The 3rd thing he mentions is the grasshopper loses its spring, which is describing losing the spring in your step. As you get older you’ll lose the spring, the bounce, the pep in your step you once had.
Again vs. 5, “The grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for the mere mortal is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street; 6 before the silver cord is snapped, and the gold bowl is broken, and the jar is shattered at the spring, and the wheel is broken into the well; 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” This is describing what happens when an older person gets closer to death. The caper berry is an illustration of something stimulating an older person’s hunger and thirst. But in this case it has no effect, it isn’t stimulating their appetite anymore. They don’t have any desire to eat, drink, or do anything anymore. Solomon says it’s because they’re getting closer to their eternal home. Some older people lose their desire to do anything before they even get close to death. But others keep their desire, and like Solomon they invest their wisdom and wealth into discipling the next generation. In our culture people think we should work hard now, so we can sit back, relax, and enjoy retirement later. But the reality is we aren’t even guaranteed we’ll make it to retirement, and Christians still have work to do in retirement. We’re to use our wisdom and wealth to help disciple the next generation so they’ll continue to carry the torch of our faith.
I’ve used this quote from John Piper before, but it’s still fitting today. He was talking about two people who achieved the American dream to retire early, and they spent the rest of their lives relaxing on the beach in Florida. John Piper states, “Bob and Penny finally achieved the American Dream. But imagine coming to the end of your life—your one and only life—and the last great work before giving an account to your Creator is, ‘I collected shells. See my shells.’ What a tragedy...Don’t waste your life!” His point isn’t that we can’t ever relax and collect shells, it’s that we shouldn’t make those things our greatest pursuit in life. His point is we shouldn’t waste our lives working so hard for things that don’t matter in eternity. Both Solomon and Piper are saying to both the younger and the older generation, don’t waste your life, including the end of your life.
Vs. 8, “‘Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher. ‘Everything is futile.’” He says everything is futile, meaning everything without God is futile. It’s because nothing has an eternal shelf life without God. So we need to remember our Creator, and pursue eternal things over futile things.
Vs. 9, “In addition to the Teacher being a wise man, he constantly taught the people knowledge; he weighed, explored, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and write words of truth accurately. 11 The sayings of the wise are like cattle prods, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.” Solomon says wisdom is like cattle prods, which are long sticks with a sharp point at the end. Shepherds use them to poke their sheep in the right direction. Solomon’s saying wisdom, especially biblical wisdom, is like cattle prods. It’ll poke you and guide you down the right path in life. The reality is we’re being bombarded every day with shifting trends, cultural opinions, and advertisements that are constantly tugging at our hearts. In fact the average American sees over 6,000 advertisements per day. That’s over 6,000 voices every day tugging at our hearts, and they’re distracting us from hearing the one voice that matters over all other voices, which is the Shepherd’svoice. What if the Lord’s been cattle prodding you, so you’ll stop wandering through life without seeking his voice?...What if he’s been cattle prodding you, so you’ll listen to his voice telling you to remember your Creator, and to make him your greatest pursuit in life?... You can listen to his voice speaking to you now through Solomon, by doing two things this week.
1st Do an audit on your life. = Do an audit on your life, your pursuits, and what you’re doing with your life. Just like we need to sometimes do audits on our budget, we need to sometimes do audits on our lives. For the younger generation, do an audit on your extracurricular pursuits and the amount of time you’re spending on your electronics, so you can free up time to pursue and serve your Creator. Do an audit on the goals you’re pursuing, and think of ways you can serve God as you work hard to achieve those goals...For the middle-aged generation, do an audit on your current career, your cash flow, your pursuit to have a comfortable life, and don’t waste the second half of your life pursuing futile things over God. Instead of viewing the midlife crisis as a crisis, view it as a cattle prod to redirect your life toward God. View it as a cattle prod to get you to pursue a greater purpose in God...For the older generation, do an audit on your retirement pursuits. Do an audit on how you’re running the final years of your life. Don’t quit running when you’re so close to the finish line, instead finish strong by discipling and pouring into the next generation. We all need to do an audit on our lives, on our pursuits, and what we’re doing with our lives.
2nd Start each day listening to the Shepherd's voice. = Start each day praying and reading the bible, so his biblical wisdom becomes the initial voice setting the direction for your day. Then keep reminding yourself of that biblical wisdom, so his voice is the dominant voice over the 6,000 voices you’ll hear throughout the day. This is critical because sheep are known for wandering away from their shepherd’s voice, and when they wander they’re more vulnerable to predators and other dangers. In 2006 over 450 sheep in Turkey fell off a cliff and died, because they wandered away from their shepherd’s voice. One of them started running, the other 450 started running, and none of them knew why they were running or what they were running towards. All 450 fell off the cliff and died, because they wandered and didn’t listen to their shepherd’s voice. Like these sheep we sometimes wander from our Shepherd’s voice, we start listening to other voices, and we start pursuing other things thinking they’ll satisfy our empty souls more than God. So like a good Shepherd God pokes us with cattle prods, with scripture, or even a tough a season to lead us away from the cliffs we’re heading towards. We need to listen to his voice leading us away from the cliffs. We need to listen to the voice of our goodShepherd Jesus. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”He’s our good Shepherd who came to lay down his life for us, but he also wants to shepherd and guide us through daily life. We need to pray, read the bible, listen to our Shepherd’s voice daily, including the cattle prodding he sometimes gives us. We need to do an audit on our pursuits, and start each day listening to the Shepherd’s voice, because his voice will always lead us in the right direction. His voice will always lead us to greater purposes and joys, that have an eternal shelf life with him.
The big idea of the message is to remember your Creator, and don’t waste your life... Remember your Creator, and don’t waste your life...Are you wasting your life?...Are you wasting your life pursuing things with a brief shelf life more than God?...Why are you running so hard in life, and what are you running towards?...Throughout Ecclesiastes Solomon admits he ran after all kinds of things in life. He admits he used his wealth to pursue whatever pleasures he wanted, but none of it ever satisfied him. In his wise old age he’s telling us to not make the same mistake. He’s telling us to not waste our lives pursuing products and trends that have a brief shelf life, and that can’t ever satisfy us like God can. This is wise old grandpa Solomon’s advice to the younger generation, but it’s also his advice to every generation. His advice to every generation is don’t waste your life now, and don’t waste the final years of your life collecting shells later. He teaches us there’s nothing worth running for more in life than God, so don’t waste your life...Let’s pray...