Passage: Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8 Speaker: Pastor Jon Kopp Series: Life Under The Sun
Speaker: Jon Kopp - Life is good. And with that phrase, Solomon begins his closing statements in the book of Ecclesiastes. Which may surprise you, because Solomon is anything but sappy and sentimental. No one would ever accuse him of looking at life through rose-colored glasses. For much of the book, he has pointed out hardship and death and injustice and pain and difficulty. Which is what I believe gives him incredible authority to talk about the goodness of life. Leland Ryken says, “As in all great literature, [Solomon] earns the right to affirm [the positive] by doing justice to the negatives of life.” You could say it this way-- Solomon has been there done that, and lived to tell about it. And, at the end of it all, he says here’s what matters. Here’s what life is for: Life is for enjoying. God wants you to find true, lasting, deep, abiding joy. Solomon actually talks about it 17x in Ecclesiastes. This book is about joy. In fact, the Jewish people read an OT book every year at their feast of tabernacles. Do you know what it is? Ecclesiastes. Because, the brand of joy Solomon is after is the kind that is anchored to reality, not superficiality. Solomon pushes us toward a brand of joy that is true, lasting, and fully capable of withstanding the pressures of life. May God reveal to us all the path to truly enjoying life.