September 5th Bible in a Year Readings

Ecclesiastes 10:1-12:14 + 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 + Psalm 49:1-20 + Proverbs 22:20-21
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~ Listen to today's Scripture with Tom Dooley’s terrific NLT 1996 readings at this link or The ESV Bible: OT + NT + Psalms + Proverbs ~

Old Testament - We finish up the book of Ecclesiastes today, and what a finish it is!  Song of Solomon begins tomorrow! I love Ecclesiastes chapter 10 today.  It's basically a series of rapid Proverbs.  Great great stuff. I had forgotten about this gem of a chapter in the Bible.  This chapter is again a great reminder of why Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, wrote many of the Proverbs.  He had godly wisdom no doubt!  I love verse 1 in this chapter today - "Dead flies will cause even a bottle of perfume to stink! Yes, an ounce of foolishness can outweigh a pound of wisdom and honor."  This is a powerful truth for us to take to heart.  We can so often live our lives with wisdom and honor... and then, we let an ounce of foolishness seep into our lives and it outweighs all of our wisdom and honor!  This is so true...  I think this is particularly true if we are harboring any unchecked sin in our life.  We need to put that sin in check!  We need to repent and flee from that sin.  Otherwise we are harboring an ounce of foolishness in our lives that can outweigh our pounds of wisdom and honor...  and this is just as bad as a dead fly in a bottle of perfume!  What a great analogy by Solomon.  Think of unchecked sin in your life a dead fly in the perfume of your life...  it is a sad but true analogy...  Get that dead fly out of your life!

I love verse 18 as well - "Laziness lets the roof leak, and soon the rafters begin to rot."  This is so very true, of course.  Are there any areas of laziness in your life where you are letting some "roofs leak?"   Are there "rafters rotting" in your life?  Will you pray to God for freedom from your laziness in those areas of your life and will you simply go and fix the roof?

Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 13 is the key verse in this entire book!  "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person."  Take a moment to meditate on this verse.  Do you agree with this teaching?  Do you fear God?  What does it mean to fear God?  (Bible.org has a good overview of fearing God at this link - scroll down on that page to the commentary on verses 11-22)  Are you obedient to God's commands?  Do you believe this is your duty?

New Testament - Second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 today is one of those verses that can really make you think about how blessed you truly are and why through Jesus: "You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich."  I imagine that most of us reading this blog right now are living pretty nice lives overall.  In most respects it may be fair to call us "rich."  Many of us have rich lives in terms of where we live, our spiritual freedoms, and other freedoms.  And why do we have these riches in our lives today?  Because Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth and made himself poor for our sakes.  Jesus was born in a manger.  He lived his life "homeless" in many ways.  He was sinless, but yet died a criminal's death by execution on a cross.  Jesus was very rich in heaven.   But yet, because of his love and kindness, he made himself poor and died on a cross for us, so that we would be "rich."  And now, realizing this, how are we utilizing our riches?  Are we demonstrating love and kindness to others like Jesus did to us?  Are we investing our lives - lives that were given to us by God and saved by Jesus - for Kingdom purposes?  Are you living your life as if you are literally working for God in all that you do?

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Second Corinthians today titled "Learning To Be Liberal" (it is a great essay on Paul's call to give generously to the church in Jerusalem) is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 49 verses 1-3 are a fantastic teaching that the Word of God, the Bible, is for everyone, no matter what our lots in life may be - "Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, everyone in the world! High and low, rich and poor--listen! For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight." Are you listening today?  Are you paying attention to the wise words and insights of the Bible?  Are you truly studying the Bible and then applying the Bible's teachings to your life?  Then, verse 15 in this Psalm is beautiful: "But as for me, God will redeem my life.  He will snatch me from the power of death."  How about for you?  Will God redeem your life?  Like the parable of the lost sheep that we read about in Luke 15:3-7, has Jesus saved you from being snatched from the power of death?

Proverbs - Proverbs 22 verses 20-21 today teach us: "I have written thirty sayings for you, filled with advice and knowledge. In this way, you may know the truth and bring an accurate report to those who sent you." These two Proverbs verses today actually tie in quite nicely with Psalm 49 verses 1-3 above.  Let us know the truth of God's Word and then report it accurately to others!  Actually, this is probably a good point for me to ask you if you are participating in a Bible study at your church?  If not, can I encourage you to consider starting up a One Year Bible study / small group at your church next year?  Seriously.  Please think and pray about this leadership opportunity.  I do realize not everyone is called to something like this.  But - I think many of us are - probably more of us than we think are.  If you have been going through the One Year Bible with us this year, you have learned much!  I think you are in a great position to lead a One Year Bible study / small group at your church next year.  All you need is a One Year Bible, perhaps the One Year Bible Companion book with Q&A teachings for each day's readings, and a willingness to take this opportunity on. Will you think and pray about this?  Will you talk to your pastor or the appropriate person at your church about this?  You don't need to know the Bible backwards and forwards to lead a group!  You just need to take the initiative to lead, and invite others to join you on the journey.  You will be amazed by how God moves in a Bible study!  It will bless you and those around you immensely!  Will you lead someone (or a group of someone's) through the One Year Bible next year?

Worship Video: Our 2nd Corinthians readings and Psalm 49 today reminded me of the MercyMe song "So Long Self," which has a fun video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJtKdjaH2nY

Have you said So Long to your Self? Click here and say Goodbye!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of every human being." Ecclesiastes 12:13 TNIV

Prayer Point: Pray that you have a godly fear and an everlasting love of God. Pray that you are able to daily move toward keeping his commandments through grace and a saving faith in His son Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior.

Comments from You:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our One Year Bible readings at this link.

p.s. #2 - Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.

p.s. #3 - I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!

Comments

[John]

Ecclesiastes10-12

So live supportively, live generously, live thoughtfully!

Solomon has looked at life from every angle, from every discipline, from every philosophy, and apart from God it is all meaningless. God is HERE, He Contols, He Gives, He Judges, but if you live apart from God it is all Meaningless.

So - how are we to live? In ch 10-11, Solomon says, 'Live supportively with regard to the government; live generously with regard to the hurts and needs of those around you; and live thoughtfully as you daily make the choices and decisions of life.'

Sounds nice, and quite frankly many atheists (and many people of all faiths) live this way. Again, people can do good here on earth from the view of "mankind". We are all in the image of God (though corrupted after the fall), and we all have sense of right and wrong, feelings of love, compassion, intellect - to some degree we all have the attributes of God and the Trinity. (It is on a spectrum with some more than others.)

But even if you live the way recommended above - in the end - without God, it is Meaningless. Sure people will have fond memories of you for a while. There may even be a building, statue, or library named after you - but in the grand scope of things it doesn't mean anything. Pretty soon, people will forget you, what you did, and how you lived. They may recognize your name or may be able to study you in a history book - but they will not know you, the person.
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So what do we do? We can live the reccomended way, but we should:

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,.."
(I wish I had come to Christ when I was younger!)

"The thought is: recall God's presence daily; live in a relationship with him; seek to discover the greatness and glories of God while you are still young, before it is too late."

If you don't discover God when you are young, as old age approaches one becomes set in his ways, resistant to change, perhaps seeking less. The danger? That you end up like the conclusion below:

"The Searcher's conclusion, then, as we have been seeing all through the book, is that life "under the sun," life lived without having discovered the reason for living, is vanity, emptiness, futility. The greatest futility of all is a life that has not found the reason for living. What a waste to live your life and never discover why you are here! What a waste, to die without learning the secret of true existence!" - Ray Stedman

Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!"

God is the secret of life; He is the answer to the reason for existence.
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[The end of the matter [the sum of it all]: all has been heard. [Here it is] Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. {Eccl 12:13 RSV}

I hope you will remove the word "duty" from your version. It is not in the Hebrew, although, unfortunately, every version seems to translate it that way. It is really this statement:

Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the wholeness of man.

That is the secret of wholeness. To "Fear God, and keep his commandments" is to learn to be and to discover the secret of being a whole person. Who does not want that? We all want to be whole persons. Not broken, fragmented, easily upset, erratic, going off in all directions at once, but stable, controlled, balanced. whole people. Here is the secret of it. This is what we are to learn when we are young: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth," before all the pressures come upon you. This is the secret of wholeness: "Fear* God, and keep his commandments."]

God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. [Eccl 12:14 RSV}

We can't hide from God. He is evident in all our life. He knows everything that goes on; he knows every thought of the heart, every word of the mouth. He knows the motives that we seek to hide from others. He sees the duplicity, the deception, the lovelessness. He has made provision for it all; nothing can be hid. Everything is going to come out in the open at last. All the illusions by which we seek to convince ourselves that things are not the way the Bible says they are, will be stripped away and we will see ourselves as he sees us; and there will not be a voice lifted to challenge the righteousness of his judgment.

Because of that the Solomon exhorts us and sets before us the wonder and the glory of our God and says, "Fear God." Have faith in his existence; experience his grace; stand in awe of his Person; and resolve to obey him. That is what fearing God means. That is the secret to life; that is the secret of the wholeness of man. - ibid.

[Deedee]

Woohoo what an ending to Ecclesiastes..such wisdom..even the best looking sin is deadly like flies in a bottle of perfume. Crazy!!

The love of Jesus for the world is so vast that while he stayed humble and came poor we have much and are penthouse through him. Amen!

Insight and enlightenment for Jesus! Are we listening? Are we learning..are we loving?

Proverbs: knowing the truth of Goda word and using it wisely..utilizing like we are in here..living learning applying..meditating on it is huge!!

[Crystal]

How many wives did King Solomon have again?