HAVING FUN UNDER THE SUN THROUGH SERVING

A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left. Ecclesiastes 10:2

Many years ago, there was a Moody film entitled, “Missionary to Walker’s Garage.” It is the story of a family with 2 sons. One became a foreign missionary to take the Gospel to a tribal people. The other son became a mechanic at the local Walker’s Garage. As the years went by, the mechanic son continued to share the Gospel with customers and led many to Christ; sometimes kneeling on the oily floor of the garage to lead the customer in prayer. The parents finally realized that they had 2 missionary sons. This illustrates the point of Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. The visible character of a person demonstrates what kind of person they are. Their heart is revealed in their character. Sooner or later their heart is revealed in their actions like the mechanic son who had just as much of a heart for the lost as his brother. Do you see this in verse 2 of this chapter?

Verse 10 can be illustrated by 2 men who were the final contestants in a wood chopping contest. The older man would often pause and sharpen his axe while the younger man continued to chop. The young man thought that he was winning. However, as the day drug on and his strength diminished, he began to lose because the older man’s axe was sharp and it didn’t take as much energy to chop the wood. In the end, the older man won the contest so “wisdom has the advantage of giving success.”

All of these verses from Ecclesiastes 9:13 into chapter 11 emphasize that the use of wisdom in serving gives joy and “fun under the sun.” That summary appears in Ecclesiastes 11:9-10. How are you doing in implementing your God-given wisdom in the service of others?

Ike Graham