Solomon-Hey, All You Young People

By Mary Vee
Ecclesiastes 11

From Solomon's Journal of Wisdom

I'd like to speak with the young people:

Light is sweet and I know it makes you happy to see and be out in the sun.
Be sure to enjoy all the years you may have, no matter how many that may be.

But remember the many days of darkness. Everything to come will be meaningless.

Young men, be happy while you are young.  Let your heart give you joy while you are young.

Follow the ways of your heart and what you see, but remember, God will bring judgement for these things.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. The one who has been here long before your troubles came.

The years will come when you will say, "These things give me no pleasure, why do I have them?"

In your old age, your body will no longer serve you so well. You muscles will become slack, your grip weaken, your joints stiffen.

You won't be able to come and go as you please. 

The hum, familiar sounds of your house, will fade away. The bird songs will wake you and you'll be unable to go for hikes to the mountains. Even a walk down the street will be dangerous. Your hair will turn snowy white adorning a fragile body too skinny to support your weight. Yes, you have but one life and at the end you will go to your eternal rest while your friends plan your funeral.

Life is lovely while it lasts, but is soon over. Life is precious and beautiful, but will end. The body will be put in the same ground as it came from and the spirit will return to God who first breathed it.

And the last and final words I have is this: 

Fear God and do what He tells you.

And that's it, your whole duty. 

For God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.


*************
photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com

1. Solomon is talking to what group of people?
2. What is he saying will happen to them later?
3. What were Solomon's last words on this subject? 

Solomon-There is a time

By Mary Vee
Ecclesiastes 3

From Solomon's Notes

I walked the city streets, not skipping any. Dangerous, wealthy, common, every street. I watched my people and listened.

Here is what I learned: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.

Who then is like the wise man? Who knows how to explain things.Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance. 


A few children ran down the street, playing. An old man sat outside his home watching. From this I learned:


There is a time to be born and a time to die.







Farther down the street I saw a farmer harvesting in his field and I learned:

There is a time to plant and a time to uproot.

And then I saw a woman drinking medicine given to her by a younger person. One of my guards offered to help. From this I learned:

There is a time to kill and a time to heal.

All through the city I watched and learned. These are my conclusions:

There is a time to tear down and a time to build.

There is a time to weep and a time to laugh.

There is a time to mourn and a time to dance.

There is a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them.

There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain.

There is a time to search and a time to give up.

There is a time to keep and a time to throw away.

There is a time to tear and a time to mend.

There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.

There is a time to love and a time to hate

There is a time for war and a time for peace.










All of these photos are courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Solomon-Walked Among His People and Saw...

By Mary Vee
Ecclesiastes

From Solomon's Notes

I went for a walk among my people. I didn't stay away from any neighborhood, in fact I wanted to go to the poorest and to the neighborhoods where the evil ones lived.

There I saw the tears of men and women who are abused and have no one to comfort them. From this I realized the dead are happier because no one can hurt them, but those who aren't yet born are even better off because they have not seen the evil that is done.

I also saw that all work or great achievement was done only to impress others. One neighbor wants to show off to another. How ridiculous. They are only chasing after the wind. Will this one achievement last? It is much better to have one handful of peace than to work so hard for nothing.

And then I saw a man. He didn't have anyone to support. No wife, no child, no brother. Yet he work and bought many things. He never rested. And why? Why? 

Two are better than one. If this man had a wife, a family to share his work with he would have someone who could help him up when he falls, and someone to keep him warm. If he had a friend he would have someone who could help protect him and he could help protect the other. Why did this man work so hard to gain so much for himself?

At the temple I saw those who made great promises. But once they had to do what they said they cried out, "I didn't mean it." There words meant nothing. They made a promise to God at the temple and did not keep their word. Don't they realize who God is? God is in heaven and we are on earth. The person who teats God with folly will receive their reward, one they won't want. We must have respect and fear of the Almighty.

The poor have nothing, giving what little they have to those over them. Those men, in turn must give what they have to those over them. Everyone takes from the one under them.

Those who love money never have enough. They are never satisfied. The more they get, the more they want. And what good is it? The owner can walk about his wealth and look at it. Then what?

The worker who gives the wealthy man his money sleeps well at night weather he eats little or a big meal. But the wealthy man lays awake at night worrying about his wealth.

We are born with nothing and die taking nothing.

And then I realized it is good and right for a man to eat and drink and to find satisfaction in his work during the few days of life God has given him, for this is our duty.

AND when God gives any man wealth and enables him to enjoy it, he should because it is a gift from God. God will keep this person occupied with great happiness deep in his heart.

*******************
photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com

1. Solomon walked among the people and saw the tears. He realized _____
2. Solomon saw a rich man who didn't have any family and thought _________
3. Solomon saw the rich man is actually miserable because _________
4. In the end, Solomon realizes that when God gives a man wealth it is _________

Solomon-Chasing After the Wind

By Mary Vee
Ecclesiastes 1,2

From Solomon's Thoughts

I, as teacher of Israel in Jerusalem, dedicated my time to study and exploration of all things done under heaven. What a tremendous task. Because of God's gift of wisdom to me I have seen  all the things done under the sun and have concluded this: they are meaningless, like chasing the wind.

Thing that are twisted cannot be straightened.
What someone doesn't have, cannot be counted.

I thought to myself, "From my studies and the gift God has given me I have learned and gained wisdom, more than any of the great thinkers who have ruled over Jerusalem before me. I've experienced not only knowing something but what to do." 

So I took the great wisdom I had gained and went about applying it, speaking as a great man. But,I also tried acting like one with madness and doing ridiculous things. And do you know what I learned? Both are like chasing the wind.

The more wisdom I discover, the more sorrow I feel. And the more knowledge I gain, the more grief floods my soul. 

I wanted something to make me happy. 

I thought, surely I could use my wisdom to find happiness. But it didn't work. 

I tried laughter, wine, doing foolish things. I wanted to see what other men could do to find a sense of fulfillment during our short lives.

I tried filling my minutes with important projects. I built houses and planted vineyards. Gardens, parks, with all kinds of fruits trees in them. I made reservoirs to water huge groves of trees. I bought many slaves, owned many herds ad flocks. My treasury of silver and gold increased. I had singers devoted to entertaining me.

In all I added to my possessions, my wisdom never left.

I didn't keep anything from myself.
Anything my heart wanted I bought.
My heart was happy with the work I did
This was the only reward for my work.

And then I went out and looked at all that was built under my direction and saw everything was meaningless. Like chasing after the wind. Nothing was gained because all of these things could be destroyed.

And I hated it. I hated everything we made, all the possession I gained because they won't be mine. Some day I will die and my son will have them. So what good has it been for me to work to gain these things? My son won't be able to keep them either. When he dies someone else will get them.

Who knows if my son will be wise or a fool and take care of the family wealth in a wise way. These things I have worked so hard to get.  It is all meaningless.

Because a person may work hard to own many things and then give it to someone who has done nothing and therefore doesn't care about those same things.

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. And even this must be from the hand of God. For without His help we cannot eat or find enjoyment. 

To the person who pleases God, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness. But to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing wealth to give to the one who pleases God. This is nothing more than chasing after the wind.

author's note: Solomon is troubled and trying to figure things out. Please come back and read the rest of Solomon's thinking to hear the complete story.

*********************
photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com

1. What did God give Solomon?
2. What is Solomon concerned about in today's story?