The Value of Giving.
 

Practical giving & Spiritual giving.
Jeff Unsworth

Ecclesiastes 11

1.Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.
2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.
7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.

Seek God in Early Life

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.

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1. Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.

There are some who see this verse as good advice for investment. Invest wisely and you will reap a good return.
I wouldn’t say that this is what this verse is about. I don’t think Solomon is giving financial advice on how best to make a profit.
The sentiment is more about generosity.

Solomon recommends:
Pro 11:24  There is one who scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. 
Pro 11:25  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. 

Pro 28:27  He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. 

Jesus recommends:
Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
 

Paul recommends:
Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

The truth of these verses is talking about charitable action.
Giving to others.
The wise thing to do is give, not just to one but seven or eight. You never know what the future may bring.
Maybe it will be you tomorrow who is in need.

Ecc 11:2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

Psalms 41:1 "Blessed [is] he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble."

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Whilst you are able, be generous, and make friends while time remains, because one never knows when he might need them to return the favour.
Whilst this is not the initial motive for giving, which should be in love because of concern, yet it is the wise thing to do.
Solomon is talking about putting wisdom into action.

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3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, all we do know is that when the cloud is full, it will drop the rain.
Likewise, the wind blows, where it wills and we don’t know if it will blow from the east or west.
When the wind blows down a tree, that’s where the tree will lie.
We have no control.
So it is with calamity, trial and tribulation. We must be ready to help wherever and whenever we can.

4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Life must go on, we cannot stop because of circumstances. The wind will always blow and the clouds will always drop its rain.
We cannot stop sowing or reaping, we cannot wait until the weather is favourable, we must get on and do it.

God tells us to sow the seed of the Gospel. There is not a special time. The time is today.
OK, the wind may blow some seed away, well! scatter some more.
When the harvest is ready to be gathered, don’t look at the clouds and put it off because it may rain.
Put on a Macintosh and wellies and go out and reap.

5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.

We do not know what plan God has, all we do know is what He has revealed in His word.
We have learned previously in Ecclesiastes that,there is a time for everything, there is a time for sowing, a time for watering and a time for reaping.
Jesus has given us a commission to share the Gospel with the world. He did not specify when.
Whether morning or evening, we are to be ready to work for the kingdom’s sake, for it is God who gives the increase and that can be at any time.

 

7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.

Solomon here goes back to his “under the sun” perspective and points out that although light is sweet and how pleasant it is to experience. Yet, when one is dead, the days of darkness will be many. This make life “under the sun” meaningless.

We do know that all believers are children of the Light. We are not in darkness. Very little can be accomplished in the dark.
We have only a short time to work, we must do the work of God whilst there is yet light.
We don’t know when the last soul will enter the kingdom. Or when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.

Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

The "fullness of the Gentiles" means "as many as will believe," or "the complete number of Gentiles." When that mysterious point has been reached. The church will be removed.

Jesus said:
John 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

We know that there are people in the world who are in darkness and it is our responsibility to tell them about the light.

Seek God in Early Life
 

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgement.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.

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Oh that our children will find God in their early years. For experiencing life in Christ will save them from much heartache.
Although we know that tribulation comes to us all in this life.
An early “New birth” will save them from succumbing to many youthful desires.
It is best to let the Spirit of God teach and direct your life from an early age, to avoid much sin.
God will help you to fight the evil that comes from the flesh.
For we know, as has been mentioned before. God will bring all to judgement.

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2 Corinthians 6:2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

 

Each of us should take note of the Preacher.
We give because we are blessed of God. All of our material wealth, comes from God. We are only stewards and we are advised to be generous.
So too, with our give of the Gospel. We received freely of this grace.

The words of the song rings out:
Freely, Freely, you have received. Freely, Freely, give.
Go in My name and because you believe, others will know that I live.

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