Since we have death and judgment to prepare for,
we should do good to others and abound in liberality to the poor,
which will (if we are in Christ) abound to our account.
Ecclesiastes 11
1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
7 ¶ Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
9 ¶ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
Ecclesiastes 11 – J. Vernon McGee
Ecclesiastes 11 – Live not for Today Alone
The casting of bread upon the waters is an allusion to the oriental custom of casting rice-grains on the fields, when they lie submerged beneath the annual inundation of such a river as the Nile. To the inexperienced eye, this would seem the prodigality of waste, but the husbandman knows full well that he will meet his seed again with abundant returns. So it is in life, whether we befriend young boys and girls, or distribute tracts, or speak kind and loving words, or invest our money in philanthropic enterprise, we are casting our bread upon the waters to find it after many days in this world or the next.
But how wise the advice not to be always considering the winds and clouds, Ecclesiastes 11:3-4. There is considerable hazard in the life of the farmer. If he waits until all the conditions are favorable, he will never begin. So with our work for God. We must risk something. Often the word spoken at an apparently untoward moment will prove to be the word in season, while that spoken under the most favorable conditions will yield no return at all. God gives it a body as, and when, and how it pleaseth Him. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Find the missing words then click and drag the letters in the grid below. Click “Start“
1 Cast thy __________ upon the ____________: for thou shalt ________ it after many days.
5 As thou knowest not what is the ______ of the spirit, nor how the __________ do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the __________ of God who maketh all.
9 ¶ ______________, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart __________ thee in the days of thy __________, and ________ in the ways of thine __________, and in the __________ of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into ________________.
Ecclesiastes 11:6—In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.
We are all tempted to look too much to the winds and clouds. We study the faces of people, their moods and circumstances, and say, “It is not a favorable time to approach them about their souls. He does not look to be a likely case, or in a likely mood.” But how do we know? If we are always waiting for favoring conditions, we shall resemble the farmer who is ever looking out for perfect weather, and lets the whole autumn pass without one handful of grain reaching the furrows; or who is always studying the clouds, seeking for a spell of hot summer weather; and presently the chance is gone, and the crop lost.
In fact, we can never tell what God is doing in the secrets of the heart. He may have been prosecuting his deep and wise designs with the souls that appear most untoward and unprepossessing. He may have led them to such a point that they are most eagerly yearning for the hand to lead them into the light. The eunuch in his chariot, might not, from a distance, have seemed specially ripe for the Christian evangelist; but, on coming near, he was discovered to be an enquirer. Saul of Tarsus was the least likely man in all Palestine to be a Christian; but God had been at work with him. Let us dare then to trust God, not looking for winds or sunshine, but scattering everywhere the precious seed of the Gospel.
“Say not, the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain;
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been things remain.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.” —Our Daily Homily
THE REMAINING GUEST.
Of all the pictures which memory paints on the heart none is so indelible as that of the hour of evening prayer when, at mother’s knee, we paid our first vows to God and pledged our lives to purity and truth. This picture has become the saving beam of light which has shot across the dark career of many who after a night’s revelry, and alone with conscience, refuse to drink further of sin’s deadly potion, but look back upon that early scene of innocence, and resolve to make it again a real experience. Although Remorse is the remaining guest of a night of sin, there is also the confident token of an angel of hope ever ready in the chamber of repentant despair.
Ecclesiastes 11:9