Listen up, little ones
Listen for the word sun.
Reading
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 Nothing New Under the Sun.
Keys for kids
- Life is short.
- Life is repetitive—the same things happen again and again.
- We can live—and die—for Christ.
Questions
- What repetition in life do you see?
- How do you feel about your repetitive life?
- How can and should you live for Christ?
Notes
In the familiar words, there is nothing new under the sun, he points out how repetitive and unsurprising things are. Gibson shows that the Preacher pictures the momentary and elusive nature of human life with a beautiful rhythmic pattern to his poetry. Read Ecclesiastes 1:4–10 aloud and feel the lyrical tilt with its tidal ebb and flow. That’s the point. Everything either goes around and around, or comes and goes; it rises and sets; what has been will be again; what has been done will be done again; what is present will soon be past. … The Preacher’s perspective is this: humans long to come across something in their lives that will break the constant repetitive cycle, something to say or see or hear that will be truly new and therefore significant—but there is nothing. No such thing exists. Whatever we see and hear has already been and gone, covered by the sands of time and simply rolling around again, perhaps in a different guise but fundamentally the same as before.
Gibson goes on to point out that it is so striking that while Ecclesiastes tells us there is no “gain” to be had under the sun, the apostle Paul says that there is in fact one thing to gain: dying. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Paul knew that in Christ, living and dying mean win-win. We can labor for Christ while we live, and we can live with Christ when we die.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 39a, 119s
Prayer
- Ask God to help you live for Christ even under the sun.
- Pray for the hearing of God’s word preached this Sunday.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.