Eccles 1-4 Reflection is a must for wise living

July 24th, Ecclesiastes 1-4

       Not sure how you take a book like Ecclesiastes. If your the kind of person who likes to ask the hard questions of life for the purpose of refinement, you'll really love this book. If your always trying to spin the positive your reaction might not be so pleasant.
       To me it speaks to the routine of life and is a call to remember what matters most. The sun sets and then rises and then sets again, the rivers run into the sea and yet the sea is never full. When it comes to the end of our life, we want to be remembered but in the end we won't. Our grandchildren will remember us, our great grandchildren might recognize us, but the next generation will not know anything of us. The place where the flower has bloomed will be remembered no more. The cycles of life move on and on, with or without us.
       It's great to have that kind of clarity. If we would let it, it would bring a sense of freedom that we could enjoy. There are more grand things in life than us and the name that should be remembered isn't ours.
       Ecclesiastes speaks of the pursuits of mankind. Wisdom is better than folly, but the same fate overtakes them both, better to be wise. Self-indulgence has a pleasure for a season, but the long-term view will leave you wanting. Remember what matters. Being a craftsman can bring joy for a season, but when you die you might leave your work to a fool and what would be the point. Enjoying the moments of life in the midst of our toil would be better.
       Chapter three is the famous passage regarding there being a time for everything. In our polarized world where everything is seen by people as "this or that," it is a wise reminder that everything has it's time. The disruption comes when you sense it's time to gather stones and your friend feels it's time to scatter stones...."What are you doing!!!!!" There is a time for everything even though we don't always agree on the timing!
       A "nutshell"   set of verses, 3:11-13 "He has made everything beautiful in it's time. Also he has put eternity in man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceive that there is nothing better than to be joyful and do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man."
       Drop the need for importance or for a legacy and simply enjoy the work set before us. Lift high the name that is above every name, that's what matters most anyway.