传道书 11:1-3 Cunpss

For Reading and Meditation:     Ecclesiastes 11:3-4

The verses before us today bring home to us our powerlessness to change certain things. Like the weather, for instance. When clouds are full of rain they drench the earth, says Solomon. There is simply no point in focusing on the things that are unchangeable. Far better to get on with living and work at changing...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ecclesiastes 11:1-2

Solomon';s cynicism almost completely dissolves as we step into these last chapters. If you are like me, you are probably saying to yourself: "And not before time!" He begins this chapter with a well-known saying: "Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you...

"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth." Ecclesiastes 11:3

Why, then, do we dread the clouds which now darken our sky? True, for a while they hide the sun, but the sun is not quenched; He will shine out again before long. Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain; and the blacker they are, the more likely they are to yield plentiful showers. How can we have rain without clouds?

Our...

"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." Ecclesiastes 11:1

We must not expect to see an immediate reward for all the good we do; nor must we always confine our efforts to places and persons which seem likely to yield us a recompense for our labors. The Egyptian casts his seed upon the waters of the Nile, where it might seem a sheer waste of corn. But in due time the flood subsides, the rice or...

Here is a message that glows with hope and promise. Just because a man has failed does not mean that God has put him on the shelf.

David's failures are recorded with stark realism. As we read them, we sit in the dust with him and burn with shame. But David knew how to break before the Lord, how to repent with bloodearnestness. And God was not through with him. God forgave him and restored him to a life of fruitfulness.

Jonah failed to answer God's missionary call and wound up in...

Bread here is probably used, figuratively, for the grain from which it is made. In Egypt, seed was sown on flooded areas. As the waters receded, the crop came forth. But it did not happen immediately. The harvest came "after many days."

Today we live in an "instant" society, and we want instant results. We have instant mashed potatoes, instant tea, coffee and cocoa, instant soup and instant oatmeal. Also, we have instant credit at the bank and instant replays on TV.

But it is not...