The Dash in the Middle
Big Idea
Life is serious business
Read:
Ecclesiastes 7:1-14
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. 2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. 7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. 10Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. 12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. 13Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Discussion Questions
- What was the most impactful thing from the text and the sermon this week?
- Read verses 3-4 then name some things that sorrow can teach us that laughter cannot. Why do you believe sorrow is a good teacher?
- Read verses 8-10. Solomon warns against being sidetracked by pessimism (v.8) and nostalgia (v.10). Thinking through the message of this text, talk about some ways you can avoid both temptations?
Further reading: Haggai 2:1-4
“He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time, which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity or with the Present–either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Read verse 12. How does wisdom preserve life? Discuss what this looks like as it is lived out every day.
Read verses 13-14. Because God holds the future, how can we increasingly trust Him no matter what may come? What are some disciplines that help in developing trust?
Next Steps
What is the one thing that you would change in your life if you had the power to change it? Write down what you learned through that experience and how it has shaped your life.
Prayer Focus
Pray that God will help us be rightly balanced in that we will both enjoy life but treat it with the seriousness that God desires. Pray also for greater trust in God and His plan