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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Ecclesiastes 12: The Key to Life
Can the wisdom of Solomon unlock the secret to a fulfilling life? Join us as we explore Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and delve into the timeless insights of one of history's wisest men. In this episode, we unravel the essence of life's fleeting nature and discuss why remembering God, especially in our youth, can lead to a life of purpose and peace. Solomon, with his profound wisdom, urges us to fear God and keep His commandments, highlighting it as a universal duty. This discussion encourages a deep introspection of our spiritual journey and the urgency of aligning our lives with God's will before the inevitable passage of time.
We also reflect on how true serenity and fulfillment are achieved through the embrace of divine guidance and the responsible use of our God-given talents. This episode is a heartfelt reminder to cherish and utilize life's opportunities as precious gifts, aligning our actions with the teachings of Ecclesiastes 12:13. As we express gratitude for the wisdom embedded in scripture, we prepare for our next enlightening session on Hebrews chapter 1. Immerse yourself in this thoughtful conversation and discover the transformative power of living a life anchored in divine principles.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, the grand finale Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, and today's title is the Key to Life. Here it is we are going to share with you the key to life. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be exactly what you expect and we'll get into it in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure that you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure that you're leaving us comments and things and stuff. We love it so very much. It is just an encouragement when we're making these videos and these podcasts over and over again to hear from you. So please let us hear from you. It really encourages our heart, even if you don't like it, let us know, because you're going to help us get better. So just engage with us. We love it and make sure you are going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook and the more we dig, the more we find, and I love all the work that they do there. Also, you can go to wwwthebiblebreakdowncom and get even more resources, as well as the verse that we have at the end of each one of these chapters. We encourage you to memorize them, because if you want to get an overall idea of what that particular book of the Bible is, if you memorize that verse, then you will have the overall idea. And we've got those cataloged on thebiblebreakdowncom and so you look at that and you can see those and you can memorize those with us. At the end of all of this, we're going to have 52 verses memorized and it's going to let excuse me 66 memorized. We're going to have 52 verses memorized and it's going to let excuse me 66 memorized and we're going to have all of those and you're going to have the gist of that book in that one verse Kind of cool, right, all right. Well, if you have your Bible, I'm going to open it up with me to Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, the grand finale. Let me remind us where we are.
Speaker 1:Solomon is preaching a sermon. That's what Ecclesiastes is the preacher, and he's preaching to us a sermon about this idea of you. Know, he was the wisest man to ever live, one of the richest men to ever live, and he just got on this kind of this journey of wanting to discover what is life really about? What's the key to life? What is it? That's the key to life? And he went on this just odyssey trying to figure it out. And he's been telling us over the past several chapters. He's like, look, life is not an all you can get, life is not an all you can achieve. And he keeps saying over and over again it's not about how young you are, how old you are. And he honestly says so much of life is outside of our control, it just happens to us. It's like life is what happens when you're making other plans is really what he's saying. Well, now that he gets to the final chapter, he's going to tell us, after all of this investigation he has done, what the key to life is. And so, if you're ready, we're just to read this together and see what God's word has to say to us. And, by the way, spoiler alert, it's been the key verse over the past several chapters you ready? Here we go, please ask, here we go.
Speaker 1:Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, the New Living Translation, verse 1, says this and already he's going to hit us right between the eyes from the very beginning. And he says this Remember him before the light of the sun, moon and stars is dim to your old eyes and rain clouds continually darken the sky. Remember him before your legs the guards of your house start to tremble and before your shoulders the strong men stoop. Remember him before your teeth, your few remaining servants stop grinding and before your eyes, the women looking through the windows see dimly. In other words, before you fall apart, verse 4. Remember him before the door to life's opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all the sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets, before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper and the cranberry no longer inspires sexual desire Moving forward. Remember him before you, near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Yes, remember your creator while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well, for then the dust will return to the earth and the spirit will return to God who gave it. So, in other words, he's waxing eloquent to say don't wait until you're old to turn to God, but do this instead, and he's going to finish it up right here.
Speaker 1:Verse eight everything is meaningless, says the teacher completely meaningless. Keep this in mind. The teacher was considered wise and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. The teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly. The words of the wise are like cattle prods painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep. But, my child, let me give you some further advice. Be careful, for writing books is endless and much study wears you out. That's the whole story here.
Speaker 1:Now is my final conclusion Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Wow, so basically, what Solomon just did is he said don't turn to God when you're old. Turn to God right now. Turn to God while you can still do something for him in this life. And then he said I look for the right way to say all this, and I understand that some of the things I have said have been a little painful, but they're also helpful. And I realized that sometimes I have said some things that stung a little bit.
Speaker 1:And he said the words of the wise sometimes do. And he said here it is Don't be like me and spend your whole life just studying. Rather, finally make a decision. And what he says is it's not a hack, it's not. Says is it's not a hack, it's not a trick, it's not a shortcut. Honestly, the truth of the matter is this there's no shortcut to a healthy soul. There's no shortcut to a godly life.
Speaker 1:A godly life and a healthy soul is built one day at a time, one day of being faithful to God at a time, one day of honoring God at a time, one day of being faithful to God at a time, one day of honoring God at a time and he's saying the whole story after his entire conclusion of years and years and years of studying life. And you imagine as a king Solomon got to see the lowliest person and he got to see kings of other nations. He got to do whatever he wanted to do to figure this out and after all of it he said this here's the thing fear God and obey him. This is it Fear God and obey him. You want to see the best of life. Fear God, honor God and obey what he says, because in fearing God and obeying him, god will lead you in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Think about it for a moment. What does? Does it make him any more God? Does it make him any more holy? Does it do anything for him? No, he is just as much God. If we follow him or if we don't, it doesn't affect his godliness. You know what I'm saying at all. He is God all by himself, right? He needs nothing from us. However, when we follow God, we're able to draw close to him. The Bible says in Psalm 16,. It says In your presence is fullness of joy. The reason why God wants us to obey his commands is so that we can draw close to him. And the reason we draw close to him is because he wants to draw close to us and he knows that the way he made us is. He made us to seek after him. Therefore, the best place for us to be is with him.
Speaker 1:It's almost like if you had one puzzle piece out of an entire puzzle. You have that one piece. You ever looked at one jigsaw puzzle piece. It looks weird, it's awkward, it looks out of place. It looks like someone made a mistake, right? It's not a circle, it's not a square, it's not a triangle, it's a thing. You know what I mean? It's just got all of these notches and stuff in it. It does not make sense by itself, but if you put that puzzle piece inside the puzzle, it makes sense. That's what it's designed to do. That's where it's home. That's where it's whole. That's where it's meant to be.
Speaker 1:That's the way God made us. He made us so that anytime we try to do anything outside of him, away from him, it doesn't quite work. It can be really close, but it doesn't quite fit. However, when we find ourselves at home in him, that's when we're truly whole, that's when we're truly fit, that's when we find out who we truly are. That's what Solomon is saying. He's saying I've figured it out. You want to get down to the bottom of this.
Speaker 1:Fear God, in other words, honor God and do what he says, because in that you find the peace you've been looking for. So here's the key to life. The key to life is to find God, to grow in Him, to get as close to Him as you possibly can and as you get as close to God as you possibly can. You will begin to find that it's in Him that the book of Acts says we live and we move and we find our being Now. That's not to say that we don't seek after other things. It's not to say that we shouldn't try to do the very best we can with everything that we have. Of course we should. I think it would be dishonoring to God not to make the most of the gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities that he gave us. It would be like if someone gave you a present and to honor them, you didn't do anything with it. Well, that's not honoring. They gave you the present so you could use it, but we do it so that we can honor God. Everything we do is for him, and we find out that that's what we were intended to always do.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you for the book of Ecclesiastes, because it's challenging and encouraging all at the same time. It challenges us to live a life that is full of your presence, because we realize, god, that that's what we were made for, and so our soul finds its home in you. I pray that every day we will find ourselves more at home in your presence. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen One more time. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13. Here is now my final conclusion Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty. Amen. That's the goal is to know God more and to live a life that is full, because it's a life full of God, amen, all right, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for our New Testament, book Hebrews, chapter 1.
