Ecclesiastes 11-12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. ² Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth. ³ If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies. ⁴ He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. ⁵ Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

⁷ The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. ⁸ Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

⁹ Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. ¹⁰ So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”; ² before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; ³ in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; ⁴ and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. ⁵ Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. ⁶ Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; ⁷ then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. ⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

⁹ In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

¹¹ The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. ¹² But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

¹³ The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. ¹⁴ For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

After words on end about the meaninglessness of this life, the writer of Ecclesiastes comes to this conclusion, his final wisdom, his final advice to everyone:  The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.    There is nothing which is hidden from the God who created everything. He is omniscient, all knowing.  Not only will every act, everything we do be judged, but Jesus Himself says:  “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:35-37)    In some ways our words, what we say carries more weight than what we do. There is a way out of the judgment for our “evil” actions.     Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. (1 Peter 3:18)  Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Roman 8:1)   So if we are in Christ, if we have believed in Him for redemption and salvation, we will no longer be judged for our evil actions. We will be judged by Christ’s action on the cross.  Hebrews 8:7,12 says: “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effecta new covenant…“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

 Our words, on the other hand, may actually have greater power and more eternal impact and consequences than our actions. Proverbs 18:21 says:  Death and life are in the power of the tongue,And those who love it will eat its fruit.  James 3:2-10 says:   If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.  Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well…See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.  For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.  But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.      Jesus says we will give account for every idle word. Once we have spoken something we cannot unspeak it. Think of the power that is in spoken words, Proverbs says it is the power of life and death. Look at the account of creation, in Genesis 1:2-3:    The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.        God spoke and it was. The rest of the creation account continues in the same way. God didn’t think the world into being. He didn’t wave His arm to create everything.  God spoke everything into existence.     There is creative power in what is spoken. Good words, blessings, will create good things, evil words, curses, will create evil things.

The text says:   Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.      We should not be idle, either in what we say or what we do. We should consider carefully the power of our words. The text says we don’t know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, but we can be sure of this: from every word we speak something will grow. In Isaiah 55:11, God says of His word:  So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.      If our words, the things we speak are God’s words, if we speak life and light where there is death and darkness, according to God’s word, we will reap as we have sown. The writer of the text, in his wisdom says:   The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

May our prayer be like the psalmist in Psalm141 and Psalm 19

O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You!  May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.  Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.  Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness… Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.  Amen