Invest Your Life
For Meditation
One of the great themes of this book is that humans are far less in control than we think we are. While we try to maintain a sense of control over our lives and futures in so many different ways, nothing can ultimately stand against the hebel-nature of our world. Because of the curse of sin, things are just not the way they are supposed to be. There is so much we don’t know, there is so much we can’t control.
Once a person realizes this, their response might be to protect themselves as much as possible from whatever could possibly go wrong. Self-protection is a natural human reaction in the face of uncertainty. But as Qohelet brings his teaching to a close, he offers an unusual alternative: take risks, give generously, live boldly. His perspective is that because the world is so uncertain, it is foolish to try to hoard your possessions and live cautiously, but it is wise to take the best of what you have and the best of what you are and give it away to others. The way to get meaning in this uncertain life is to give.
This upside-down advice makes more sense in the light of the gospel. As Christians, we serve an upside-down Messiah, who won by losing, who triumphed by dying, who gained everything by giving everything away. As Jesus himself taught, the one who wants to save their life must lose it, but the one who wants to save their life must lose it for Jesus’ sake. In light of Jesus, Qohelet’s vision of a good life gains a lot more clarity.
How are your investing the best of what you are and what you have in others? It is the path of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 11:1–6
1 Ship your grain across the sea;
after many days you may receive a return.
2 Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3 If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.