Big Idea: God offers us a full life in an empty world. Hebrews 9:27 27 …it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, If we take life seriously, then we can’t treat death flippantly. “Death is not an accident, it’s an appointment that nobody but God can cancel or change.” — Warren Wiersbe Ecclesiastes 9:1 1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. Only God knows the future, but we are active participants in the here and now. Ecclesiastes 9:2 2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. We share a common destiny on earth, but we do not share a common destiny in eternity. Ecclesiastes 9:3 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. Our lives will be restless and unhappy until we find an answer beyond ourselves that settles the meaning for our lives now, and for eternity. Ecclesiastes 9:4–6 4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. In Christ, we have a living hope. Ecclesiastes 9:7–10 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. In Christ it’s more than enduring life, but enjoying life… so the time is now to get up and live with intentionality. 1 Corinthians 15:58 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Next Week’s Text: Ecclesiastes 8:2-5; 9:14-15; 10:20