Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 [show] [16]I said in my heart, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." [17]And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
[18]For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
; 2:12-17
Wisdom is defined as skill in living or navigating through life. Proverbs heartily affirms our need for it, but the writer of Ecclesiastes forces us to ask, “If both wise and foolish die, does it really matter whether we live wisely?” He readily points out both the benefits and the limitations of wisdom as he questions the necessity of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 [show] [1:1]The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
[2]Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
[3]What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
[4]A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
[5]The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
[6]The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
[7]All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
[8]All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
[9]What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
[10]Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
[11]There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.
Does life apart from God have lasting value? Too many of us go through our lives without ever asking questions like this one. Yet it is one of the most important questions anyone can answer. We begin a study of the book of Ecclesiastes, where we’re forced to examine our lives from this perspective: why does anything matter?
Ephesians 4:7-16 [show] [7]But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. [8]Therefore it says,
"When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men."
[9](In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [10]He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) [11]And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [12]to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13]until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, [14]so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. [15]Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16]from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (ESV)
We hear words every day. The power of spoken words is undeniably powerful. God’s Word possesses unique and unmatched power to feed souls. In this passage, Paul explains how God works through his Word to build his church. He describes the ministry each believer has to speak God’s Word to one another.
Luke 2:8-20 [show] [8]And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9]And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. [10]And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11]For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12]And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." [13]And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
[14]"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
[15]When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." [16]And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. [17]And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. [18]And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19]But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20]And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (ESV)
The word is spread when a baby is born. Phone calls are made, pictures are posted, texts are sent, and cards are sent out. In this passage, we see the most important birth announcement of all. This birth announcement proclaimed “good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” What made Jesus’ birth so important that a multitude of angels declared, “Glory to God in the Highest?”
Luke 2:1-7 [show] [2:1]In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. [2]This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. [3]And all went to be registered, each to his own town. [4]And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, [5]to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. [6]And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. [7]And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (ESV)
After traveling through the first chapter of Luke, we now come to the main event in his birth narrative. Jesus is born. But few things about his birth are what we would have expected. He was born to a peasant couple, in an animal shelter, laid in a filthy manger. To top it all off, his first visitors were lowly shepherds. What did all of this mean? Why was the Savior of the world born under such humble circumstances?