May 28, 2021 - Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
As I was growing up in Western New York I would often go out into the woods and explore. I would imagine the deer and cattle paths I walked were once trails that Indians and explorers traveled as they moved from the East coast to places in the Midwest. Although I knew the woods and the trails around my home, I realized I would never reach the end of the trail.
Solomon had looked at life from many perspectives and as he did, he recognized life was not worth living without God in the picture. The adventure of life was as deficient without Him as my travels were through the forests in my youth. There was more and Solomon realized that the monotony of life, (traveling the same trails), looking at wisdom only from the human viewpoint, acquiring wealth, and finally dying was incomplete, which are the four main themes of Ecclesiastes.
Recognizing God’s sovereignty was necessary to fulfill the adventure that stirred in Solomon’s heart and trust the same God his father had followed. Faith is illustrated in the use of two illustrations in this passage. First, is the merchant sending ships out to sea (vv.1-3). Secondly, a farmer is shown casting seed onto the ground to reap a harvest (vv.4-6). Both were dependent on elements that were unseen and out of the control of the merchant and the farmer. The wind, rain, clouds and ultimately the results were beyond the control of man. By faith, they cast their livelihood into the adventure and trusted the results to God (v.5).
Solomon is stating that life is an adventure to which we do not know the destination point. It will be filled with labor, people, storms, harvests and the unknown! As we trust God, we can walk the paths made by others and trust that the Lord is directing each step. The New Testament reveals that our walk of faith rests in Jesus Christ and He reveals the destination for man’s journey as being a home He is preparing for us (John 14:1-11). Like Solomon, pursue life and come to recognize the reality of Jesus Christ being the way, the truth and the life!