Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your
Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com. You're listening
Speaker 1: to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm John Stonge,
Speaker 1: and today we're in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, and we'll be
Speaker 1: reading from the contemporary English version. I looked again and
Speaker 1: saw people being mistreated everywhere on earth. They were crying,
Speaker 1: but no one was there to offer comfort, and those
Speaker 1: who mistreated them were powerful. I said to myself, The
Speaker 1: dead are better off than the living, but those who
Speaker 1: have never been born are better off than anyone else
Speaker 1: because they have never seen the terrible things that happen
Speaker 1: on this earth. Then I realized that we work and
Speaker 1: do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others.
Speaker 1: This makes no more sense than chasing the wind. Fools
Speaker 1: will fold their hands and starve to death. Yet a
Speaker 1: very little food eaten in peace is better than twice
Speaker 1: as much earned from overwork and chasing the wind. Once again,
Speaker 1: I saw that nothing on earth makes sense. For example,
Speaker 1: some people don't have friends or family, but they are
Speaker 1: never satisfied with what they own and they never stop
Speaker 1: working to get more. They should ask themselves, why am
Speaker 1: I always working to have more? Who will get what
Speaker 1: I leave behind? What a senseless and miserable life. You
Speaker 1: are better off to have a friend than to be
Speaker 1: all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out
Speaker 1: of what you earn. If you fall, your friend can
Speaker 1: help you up. But if you fall without having a
Speaker 1: friend nearby, you are really in trouble. If you sleep alone,
Speaker 1: you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a
Speaker 1: cold night. Someone might be able to beat up one
Speaker 1: of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes,
Speaker 1: a rope made from three strands of cord is hard
Speaker 1: to break. You may be poor and young, but if
Speaker 1: you are wise, you are better off than a foolish
Speaker 1: old king who won't listen to advice. Even if you
Speaker 1: were not born into the royal family and have been
Speaker 1: a prisoner and poor, you can still be king. I
Speaker 1: once saw everyone in the world follow a young leader
Speaker 1: who came to power after the king was gone. His
Speaker 1: followers could not even be counted, but years from now,
Speaker 1: no one will praise him. This makes no more sense
Speaker 1: than chasing the wind. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you
Speaker 1: for your word, and we thank you for the privilege
Speaker 1: of being able to look at this portion of Scripture today.
Speaker 1: We thank you for the wisdom that we have through
Speaker 1: faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, and we thank you
Speaker 1: for the practical things that we could observe from what's
Speaker 1: being spoken of in a passage like this. Lord, so
Speaker 1: often we give our lives to chasing things that have
Speaker 1: no lasting value, and yet you tell us in your
Speaker 1: word to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, but
Speaker 1: our minds become so consumed with treasures here on this earth. Lord,
Speaker 1: help us to be thinking beyond our day-to-day circumstances. Help
Speaker 1: us to be looking forward to the future that we
Speaker 1: have in you, and help us, Lord, to be grateful
Speaker 1: for your presence with us and your love that you've
Speaker 1: displayed to us in your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we're
Speaker 1: grateful for all of these things. We thank you for
Speaker 1: your love, and we commit this day to your care,
Speaker 1: and pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.