Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – Who hasn’t, at some time or another, thought that just a little more income or even just a one time windfall, would make our lives so much better. I know I do.
Solomon had the luxury few of us will experience, the financial ability to run after whatever his heart desired. There was no “If only …”, he had the means to do whatever he wanted, and he did. In the end he found that it “all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun“.
Ecclesiastes 2:13 – “there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness” Not all the meaningless toil is equally meaningless.

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:17

I’ve felt this way sometimes. What good is life, all that I value and strive for, all that is important to me will be gone and unremembered not long after I’m gone. What’s the point?
Actually, verse 18 captures more of how I’ve felt: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun”. But Solomon hated it because fo what would become of it, I just hate to work. If it’s all just going to decay and break, why bother? Why not just sit on the couch?
But I’ve learned that there is joy and contentment in work, which, honestly, ticks me off. Case in point, yesterday I was faced with projects to get done and I really just wanted to relax. Our disposal had sprung a leak, the patio furniture needed to be put away and the last lawn treatment needed done. The others could be (somewhat) safely postponed, but an unusable kitchen sink wasn’t going to fly, so i got to work. I diagnosed the problem, went to Home Depot and got the new one, installed it and replaced the dripping faucet flex line. I also picked up some weatherstripping for our entry door and got that replaced. I took advantage of the warm evening and got up on the roof to put up the Christmas lights (don’t worry, they won’t get turned on until Thanksgiving).
I never got to the patio funiture or the lawn treatment, but today I awoke refreshed adn content in a way that I normally do not. God has made us to work, and in that work, even as temporary as it may be, we find contentment and fulfillment. It ticks me off because my way is different. I want to lounge, to indulge, to be lazy. It’s a lie and a seduction, however, because he call of relaxation instead produces anxiety. The restlessness that comes from living outside of God’s purpose. God is at work and he created us to be at work as well.
Solomon realized this as well:

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God …

Ecclesiastes 2:24

The joy is in the act of working, not in the results of the work. Like so much in the world, it’s backward from our understanding. We work for the end result, He works for the joy in working.

As I was finishing up my study of Mark, I kept thinking about Ecclesiastes. My mental state of late has wondered what the meaning of all this stuff we do. I mean, who cares about my basement getting finished or my old car or most anything in the grand scheme of things. It’s a little fatalist and depressing (don’t worry Mom, I’m fine), but that’s where I’ve been. It’s So today I start a study of Ecclesiastes.
I also hope to (once again) recommit myself to more serious study and reading of the scriptures. I said study and reading. My studies will be posted here, but I need to spend other free moments just reading. No note taking, no blogging, just reading. I’ve generally put off my study time until I can be at the computer taking notes no the blog. There’s a place for that, but that kind of time s harder to find. There are little moments where I can just break open the eSword on my phone or the Bible on the side table and read for a few minutes. no expectations but taking it in.
I’ve been trying to do that with my older girls in the morning. I’ve been reading Matthew out loud as they get breakfast. I say try, because getting two middle schoolers up at 6 AM can be challenging. We generally get some reading in at least 2-3 days a week though.
Anyway, that’s where I am.

What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.

Ecclesiastes 1:3-4

This I can relate to lately. What’s the point? Fix things up, they just break again. Gather and gather and you now have more things to look after. Things that begin to break as soon as you get them home. In the end, what does it gain? Life feels particularly short these days. I think it’s the down turn of my body after 40, seeing friends age, seeing my parents age and seeing me now where they were when I was growing up and them where my grandparents were. We’ve both stepped to the next square on the game board and I still feel like I’m back where I was. I wasn’t done there yet. The arc of life feels more real than it used to.
There’s nothing new here, everyone deals with it. I’m not overly depressed about it (I don’t think), but I’m not particularly happy these days either. This too will pass.
Maybe Ecclesiastes isn’t a good book to read under theses circumstances (any thoughts on that?). I’m hoping the conclusions that Solomon reached (which I already know) will bring some contentment to my soul.
Kansas Bob posted the other day that he used to rule the world. Things weer black and white and he thought he was in control with his destiny. Then life happened and he learned it was an illusion. At the end of the post he wrote:

I no longer rule the world but I am content with my place in it.

That’s where I long to get. I understand the first part, but I’ve yet to achieve the second. I’m hoping Solomon will help me.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 – “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” This verse made me think of those who pursue the Bible as the end rather than the means. In other words, they long to know their Bible more than they long to know God. I’ve never had that problem :-D, rather I’ve forgotten too often that the God I strive to know is revealed in the Bible. Knowing the Bible is a means to the end of knowing Him.

Mark 16:3 – I wonder what their plan was, if they needed the stone moved, why did they go out without someone to help them move it? Perhaps they just went out, and if they could get it moved, they would, if not they would not.
Mark 16:5-6 – They were alarmed, I’m thinking I would have been angry. After all, in the frame of my understanding of the possible, the only explanation of a missing Jesus is thieves or pranksters. Isn’t that how we look at the world, from the framework of what we see as possible? It’s hard to expand your thinking to include all that God sees as possible. I think that God understands that (I hope so) and deals with us where we are and with what we can accept. but I think I need to constantly remind myself that God is bigger than what I can fathom and things that I can’t even imagine are possible with Him and are being done. I’m convinced that, just as Jesus was limited in what he could do because of the lack of faith in some places, I limit how effective the Spirit can be in me because I can’t see beyond reality and experience. Lord, increase my faith and my vision!
Mark 16:7 – The angel says “… g, tell his disciples and Peter …” (emphasis mine). Today we would never make such a statement, but God doesn’t hold back. Peter had denied Jesus, and at this point God was accepting that proclamation, listing him as separate from the disciples. Today we’d say that such a distinction was rude and uncaring. Don’t kick the guy when he’s down, give him a second chance. Look again though, Gods is giving him a second chance, he’s reaching out to him and calling him to meet Jesus again in Galilee. Yet the angel doesn’t mince words here, the fact is that Peter has turned away. There will be an opportunity for reconciliation, but Peter will need to accept it.
I don’t know why the Spirit singled out Peter when all deserted Jesus. Maybe Peter’s denial was more public and vocal. Maybe God knew that Peter needed to face this head on, to understand exactly what he had done in order to clearly choose to follow.
Mark 16:15 – “”Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” What an instruction! Of course, you’re sitting there with a dead man who is now alive and handing out missions, who’s to argue or doubt?
Mark 16:16 – This is one of those “See! Baptism is necessary!” verses. Jesus says that hose who believe and are baptized will be saved. But when talking of those who would be condemned, ho only mentions those who don’t believe. What of those who believe but aren’t baptised? Jesus doesn’t say. Frankly, this verse doesn’t say anything conclusive about the necessity of baptism for salvation (although a plain reading certainly implies that it is), it says more about the necessity of faith.

Mark 15:1-5 – It can’t be said so much that the Jews or Pilate killed Jesus as that Jesus refused to stop them. Whether he would have been successful in answering their false accusations is immaterial, he didn’t even try. He was determined to fulfill his mission and any words he might say may prevent that. And so he was silent.
Mark 15:6-15 – I seem to remember other Gospels indicating that it was Pilate who brought Barabbas out as an alternative to Jesus. This seems to imply that the leaders put forth his name. If it was Pilate, I wonder if he chose someone so bad (a murderer) that he thought they would surely choose Jesus instead.
Mark 15:21 – “Simon … the father of Alexander and Rufus” I wonder, did the group that Mark was writing do know Alexander and Rufus? Were they disciples? Why else, except that they were known, would Mark mention them?
Mark 15:24 – Earlier (verses 16-20), the soldiers are mocking him, here they are fighting over his things. They are treating him just as they did any other man condemned to die. I wonder, did any of these soldiers later come to faith, to understand that this man, who’s undergarments they fought over, this man was God. Did they look back and see the epic moment in history they participated in?
Mark 15:35-36 – All those around mocked him, but when Jesus finally called on God, they anticipated, hoped for, a miracle. Because they believed? No, I think it’s the same reason Nascar fans love the crashes, people flock to Circe de Soleil and hurricanes get so much coverage – we love a good spectacle. God coming down to rescue Jesus would have been a spectacle indeed.
Mark 15:37-47 – The matter of his death is told in such a matter of fact way here. No drama, no emotion. He died. The curtain was torn. He was buried. A stone was rolled in. It seems odd that the even that Mel Gibson made an entire movie of is told here in less than 50, simple verses. I think that a lot is hidden in those 47 verses.

Mark 14:38 – When Jesus says to Peter “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”, I think it had to be a great encouragement to him. It’s like Jesus saying “I know that you’re with me, but your tired and weak. Come on! Pray and hang in with me.”
Mark 14:41-42 – I wonder if they felt that they had somehow let Jesus down, contributing to the failure to keep the authorities at bay. Maybe it’s my modern day American interpretation of Prayer, but I can imagine thinking that Jesus was here to petition the father to prevent His arrest. If so, I might feel as though my lack of engagement or faith let Jesus down.
Mark 14:43 – I can imagine thinking “Oh no …”, but then seeing Judas and maybe briefly thinking “Oh, it’s Judas, that’s OK” before realizing that it’s not at all OK.
Mark 14:53-65 – I like how they brought all these witnesses in to convict Jesus, but it didn’t work, their testimony was contradictory. And Jesus refused to respond to their charges. It wasn’t until he answered a direct question that they had a basis to charge him. Jesus literally gave them what they needed so they could execute Him.
Mark 14:72 – I feel for Peter here. The vehement insistence that he’d ever deny Jesus rebutted by Jesus’ assurance that he would, and here he is. Doing exactly what Jesus predicted. It must have torn at his heart. Many a good man has been destroyed by an event like this, confronted with who he really is rather than who he’d like to believe he is.
Jesus had remarkable faith in Peter, if you think about it. Assuming that Jesus knew at least a bit of the future, which is clear from his words and predictions of things like Peter’s denial, Jesus could have done a lot to prevent Peter from facing this. He could have done more to prepare him. Sent him on a long distance errand. Instructed him to stay away from the courtyard. But He didn’t. He chose to let Peter face his sin. He chose to let Peter suffer the inner turmoil that comes with seeing one’s self clearly.
I would guess that most people don’t want to know who they really are, They spend their lives trying to pretend that they are something else. I’m reminded of the movie the Matrix, where the one guy decides that reality is too much. He longs to get plugged back in, pull the veil back over my eyes, lie to me again. The truth is to painful and hard.
Jesus refused to shelter Peter from the truth. I wonder how much he knew about Peter would handle it. Certainly, the Peter of Acts who preached and stood unflinchingly in the face of the threats of the leaders would have never been if he hadn’t been in that courtyard and heard that rooster.
And where would we be in that case?

Mark 14:1 – It floors me that the leaders of the Jews were searching for a way to kill him. I can’t wrap my mind around how you can be in the position of leading God’s people and get to the place where murder seems appropriate. Wow.
Mark 14:7 – I like the ESV translation of this verse: “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them.” Jesus rightfully points out their hypocrisy. Why the sudden concern for the poor? They’ve always been there and always will be, “whenever you want, you can do good for them.” It troubles me that of the plenty that I have, I spend most of it on myself. Just as troubling is that I get the impression that I give away more than most. It’s a cycle we get trapped in and can be very difficult to move out of, but I hope that I can.
Mark 14:13-14 – This is like the donkey thing when he arrived in Jerusalem. “Go find a guy with a water jar and ask him for a room.” Yeah right. I would have made a lousy disciple, because I’m not sure I would have followed through with that. Sooo …. What promises has Jesus made me that I’m dismissing because it just doesn’t make sense to me? The effectiveness of prayer (what ever you ask for in my name …) come to mind, but honestly I can’t think of others. OK, the promise of gain from sacrifice (no one who has given up homes, fields, family, …), that the harvest is plentiful come to mind as well. It’s easy to treat all of these as religious platitudes rather than facts that should shape the way I live. Am I brushing aside the promises of God because they don’t fit my understanding of the world?
Mark 14:22-25 – I wonder what the disciples were thinking here? He’s speaking of this food as his flesh and blood, of a covenant. I don’t think they were yet on board with Jesus’ mission of salvation, they didn’t yet understand and wouldn’t until he was raised. Just look at their actions between this point and then – betrayal, denial, flight, hiding – to see that. So here they are, and Jesus speaks of truths that have to make no sense to them and they eat and drink. Did they just dismiss it as Jesus being Jesus, cryptic and incomprehensable?

Mark 13:1-2 – I can see myself with Jesus, impressed by the local architecture, especially if I hadn’t been there before. Cool, check that out! I’d be bummed when Jesus threw cold water on my observations. 😀
Mark 13:5 – Jesus is asked about the future, when the end will come. He begins His response with “See that no one leads you astray.” Yet, even knowing that Jesus told us it will be a surprise, that we don’t know the time, that even He didn’t know the time, folks try to figure it out. They read into the tings happening in the middle east, they study OT prophesies and Revelation to determine what is to come and when. They even make predictions. Why, when Jesus was so clear? I think He’s rather us be concerned with living day to day as he did than trying to discern what is to come.
Mark 13:9-13 – They ask about the future of Jerusalem, perhaps the future of the world, and instead Jesus tells them of their future. The future of Jerusalem is scary enough – no stone left on top of another – but their personal future is scarier. Beatings, divided families, hatred and death.
Mark 13:14 – After “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be” Jesus, or actually it was Mark, says ‘let the reader understand’. I would love to be able to understand that sentence. I guess, since I’m not in Judea (they were the ones told to flee when that happened), I don’t really need to know. 😀
Mark 13:14-23 – I wonder, is this referring to a time already past, or a time yet to come. I know, million dollar question that everyone wants to know. It’s scary stuff, and it would be nice to know if it has already passed. I guess Jesus’ admonition in verse 23 is the important bit – “be on guard.” We need to always be ready to be tested. Always.
Mark 13:32-36 – Just in case we didn’t get it, he repeats it, and elaborates on it. That’s the challenge for us, especially here in the comfy west where our faith isn’t challenged, at least not physically. We are free. But the culture digs at our faith all day long. We must be vigilant, we must, as Jesus says, ‘stay awake’ spiritually. I’m afraid that all to many in America who claim his name are sleeping. It scares me too that I might be asleep and not even know it.

Mark 12:1-12 – As I read this, I can’t help but think of this blog. I guess it’s been on my mind lately, as the days go by and there isn’t anything new. I spend plenty of time online and most of that on blog. But I’m a consumer, not a producer. Isn’t that the problem here was? The tenants were consuming themselves instead of producing for others. And when others come, they get nothing.
I started blogging to share my perspective, but, as I’ve lamented recently, I spend too much time taking in what others write and not enough sharing what I’ve learned. These tenants kept the fruit for themselves, and no one else benefited from it.
More over, I ought to think of my life. If God came today, or sent His servant, and asked for some of the fruit, where would it be? What have I produced from what’s been provided to me?
It matters little to realise that this parable is about me if I do nothing different after today. Those who heard Jesus came to the same realization. Their response was to look to kill the messenger. What is mine?
Mark 12:25 – No marriage in Heaven? My marriage has been the blessing of my life, and marriage has been the cornerstone of many societies. It’s hard to imagine this world without it. It makes reproduction possible (at least Godly reproduction). It forms the core of family which provides the foundation for rearing our young. Yet in Heaven, it will be no more.
I have to admit, there are things like this that make me wonder about heaven. I mean, I trust God when He tells us it’s an awesome place and the whole no more crying or pain is a definite selling point, but no marriage? Hmmm.
Mark 12:30-31 – Love. Nothing trumps love. Simple, right? Then why is that so easy to forget?
Mark 12:41-44 – I like this pictuer of Jesus, sitting off to the side, jsut watching the people. I picture him grabbing Peter’s arm or tuggin on John’s tunic saying “Look, look, look, look … right there. Did you see that poor woman?” Oh, that I’d have the simple faith to make Jesus pull the apostles to Him to point it out.

Over a month since my last QT entry. Sigh.
Mark 11:1-10 – Notice – A colt that had never been sat on, they laid their cloaks on the colt so Jesus wouldn’t have to touch it and they even covered the road so the Colt wouldn’t touch that. I get the sense of holiness, being set apart. Clean and undefiled. There’s an elevated level of respect and honor. You deserve not only a fresh colt, but to be isolated from the colt and the colt isolated from the earth.
Mark 11:11 – I never caught this verse before. Jesus comes in in honor, goes to the temple, looks around and then heads back out. “And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” That’s a bit odd to me.
Mark 11:13-14 – One could get the idea from these passages that Jesus is a little crazy. First a big shindig parade just to turn around and go back out and now he curses a fig tree for not having figs when it’s not the season for figs. I admit it, I’m a bit confused.
Mark 11:19 – I wonder why they weren’t staying in the city, since every day they go in and every night they go out? Was it simply that there was no room or that the rooms were cheaper in Bethany? Maybe that’s where the kind soul who offered to put them up lived. Honestly, that seems most likely. Of course, their staying outside explains the march in only to leave again. The march, if I recall right, was to fulfil a specific prophesy about arriving on a donkey.
Mark 11:20-23\5 – The fig tree not only withered, but withered to it’s roots. That’s quite a transformation in 24 hours. Peter’s shocked. Jesus isn’t. This is some challenging stuff, and I’m not just talking about throwing a mountain into the sea. I kinda think folks read right on past that, I mean it was just an example, right? No, the challenging thing for our evidence focused minds is verse 24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received [3] it, and it will be yours.”
Plenty has been said, foolishly, claiming that Jesus can pay your mortgage or get you a new car if you believe hard enough. It’s heresy, plain and simple. But … What about freedom from addiction, hatred, anger or violence? What about forgiveness or the ability to forgive? What about transformation? These things happened over and over to the people Jesus came in contact with and he promises us that if we believe that we have already received …
But we’re “I’ll believe it when I see it” kind of people, so I wonder how much we are missing? Jesus says believe first and receive second. We’ve got it backwards.

Mark 10:35 – What a bold request – “we want you to do whatever we ask.” Would you say that to anyone? Maybe, “can you do me a favor” or “I’d like you to do something for me”, but “do whatever we ask”? Wow.
Mark 10:37-38 – I suspect they really didn’t know what they were asking because they misunderstood what ‘his glory’ would be. They were still thinking Earthly kingdom, they wanted to rule Israel with Him. They didn’t realize how Jesus’ kingdom would be manifest.
Mark 10:42-45 – Jesus redefines leadership. It’s not about position, power and glory, it’s about service. Many pay lip service to this idea, especially politicians, but I wonder how many truly understand it. I suspect that those who do are leaders in character, but not in position. They lead quietly, serving those around them, silently impacting lives and advancing the kingdom. Those ‘out front;’, trumpeting their leadership are frequently not truly those leading the way.
Mark 10:52 – It was his faith that made him well, but not until Jesus said so. His simple faith that Jesus was able to fix him. Notice, he didn’t ask if Jesus could? His ability was a given in his mind. It was only a matter of if he could get through to Jesus. He didn’t need to know how it would be done or why, he just knew Jesus could if he could get to Jesus.
I know I can get to Jesus, but I’m not convinced that he can. Well, in the very least, I want an explanation of how he can before I believe that he will. I know too much, and it hampers my faith. Bartimaeus had no knowledge of how his sight worked or why it wasn’t working. He didn’t need to, he just knew that Jesus could fix it. Oh, for that simple of a faith.