The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Whatever God gives you that is legitimate, you have the privilege and opportunity to max it out.

Guest (Male): But Dr. Tony Evans says it's possible to enjoy God's blessings while losing sight of God himself.

Dr. Tony Evans: Don't let God's goodness for you cause you to forget God.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Have you ever noticed how quickly something new can lose its appeal? Today Dr. Evans explains why that's more than just a passing feeling. It's a reflection of life lived without God. Let's join him in the book of Ecclesiastes as he reveals the vital connection between God and a life of lasting purpose.

Dr. Tony Evans: The theme of the book is life under the sun. It's viewing life under the sun as a man struggles with how life looks unless God is intruding into it. And he says life on its own merit under the sun—on earth where people live, work, play, raise families—is vanity.

Vanity means emptiness or without ultimate purpose and meaning. And all of us knows what that is. We've experienced the letdown of a new car becoming old, of a new house becoming old, of something exciting losing its vim, vigor, and vitality, and all of a sudden it becomes dull and meaningless.

You see it every Christmas when you were raising your children or even when you were a child. Christmas morning everybody's all excited and the kids come down and they're tearing the wrapping off the toys and they're excited. "Oh, look at what Mommy bought. Look at what Daddy bought." And a week later they're bored. You're broke and they're bored.

But that's life under the sun. He says ultimate meaning, for the moment it may look exciting and all of that, but give it time and give life's realities a chance to sink in. That which was just causing you ecstasy all of a sudden feels like tragedy because it's life under the sun. It's the way earth is.

And what he's going to argue, what he has argued throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, is that the emptiness of life when you look at it under the sun has no ultimate value. Therefore, in order to inject meaning into the realities of the ups and downs, mountains and valleys of life, God must be interjected into it.

Apart from God, there is no ultimate meaning. There can be momentary satisfactions but no ultimate meaning. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity. As we began in chapter nine, where he looks at life under the sun as fundamentally mundane apart from God.

Let me go back to verse one: "For I have taken all this to my heart and explained it that the righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him."

You've seen verse three: the evil in all that is done under the sun. One fate falls to all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity in their hearts throughout their lives, and afterwards they go to the dead. He said, "I've seen this under the sun. I've seen the wickedness, the evil, and yet everybody dies."

Whatever your hand finds to do, verse ten, do it with all of your heart. For there is no activity or planning or knowledge of wisdom in Sheol where you are going, meaning the grave. Whatever God gives you that is legitimate, you have the privilege and opportunity to max it out.

If God gave it because it's legitimate, it's okay to enjoy it and the good news is you don't have to feel guilty about it. So don't let other people's jealousy or misery take away God's goodness from you. But don't let God's goodness for you cause you to forget God.

I again saw under the sun, verse eleven, that the race is not to the swift or to the battle and not to the warriors, and neither is the bread to the wise nor the wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability for time and chance overtakes them all. What he's saying is under the sun life looks sometimes like chance, like rolling the dice.

Moreover, man does not know the time, verse twelve, like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them. Psalm 73, when he got the perspective from above, he saw that the wicked look good now but that can change quickly.

And so that gives him that God perspective, which is why you must always live in time with an eternal perspective. Because that means that even though it doesn't look right now, it ain't over yet. Also this I came to see in verse thirteen under the sun, see under the sun, and it impressed me.

There was a small city with few men in it and a great king who came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siege works against it. But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered the poor man.

So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength," but the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded. The words of the wise man in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Here again he makes his case for wisdom. He makes his case for decision-making. Remember, wisdom is the ability to make the best possible decision given the options available. It is the ability to make the best possible decision given the options available.

That's why the Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Because when you have God's perspective, your ability to make the best possible decision of the options available to you grows exponentially. It grows quickly. So even though this man was poor, he had wisdom.

Listen to me. When it comes to decision-making, just because somebody has the title and the position, like in this case the ruler. The ruler had the power, the ruler had the army, the ruler had the clout. What he didn't have was wisdom. And the poor man delivered the city using wisdom. Nobody knew his name, he wasn't remembered, but he saved the city using wisdom.

You need to have wise people in your life. How do you know a wise person? Well, one, they will bring God's perspective to bear on it consistently. Because you can have experience, you can have knowledge, but still make a bad decision. And wisdom is about making decisions.

And everybody in this room knows what it is to have made a bad decision. In other words, that was an unwise decision. We make it, we see our family members make it, our children make it every day. You want people in your life who are wise, who bring God's position to bear but practically tell you how to operate within it.

So they're not just quoting Bible verses. They're bringing God's perspective, so that's the Bible, but they know how to navigate the choices that you have to make with that truth in making the decision. And I love the fact that he talks about the wise man being poor.

So wisdom has nothing to do with your bank account. You can be a rich fool and a poor wise person. Better to take advice from a poor wise person than a rich fool.

Chapter ten. "Dead flies make a perfume oil stink." So a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor because it can stink stuff up. A fool can mess you up, can mess up your life. If you marry a fool, if you marry a fool he may be good-looking, he may be rich, but if you marry a fool that's a dead fly that's contaminating what ought to be a sweet ointment.

So you want to know, it's okay if he look good, but you want to know that they're a good decision-maker because they can ruin your life. A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, so he's going to do what's right. But the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left.

That's not a political statement. Not trying to say everybody who's right politically is wise. Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he's a fool.

Fools go public. Fools go public because of their decisions. If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position because composure allays great offenses. In other words, you've got to know who to get mad at and who not to get mad at.

Because you may have the right to speak your mind, but it probably isn't good to speak your mind to the wrong person at the wrong time like your boss. You may not like your boss, but probably telling him you don't like him, you never liked him, you wish you didn't have to come here every day and work for him because you're a no-good scoundrel—not a good idea.

The ruler, the person in charge. In other words, you have to learn to control how you vent.

Guest (Male): More on the uncertainty of life without God when Dr. Evans continues in a moment. First, though, today's lesson is part of Tony's in-depth exploration of the book of Ecclesiastes from his sermon series called "How to Avoid a Wasted Life".

Ecclesiastes is packed with honest questions about life, and Dr. Evans has been revealing the insights and conclusions found in this Old Testament book. Insights that can help you better navigate your own life obstacles and challenges with wisdom and grace.

You can receive this complete series for yourself on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download. The entire collection includes nine full-length messages with extra material we haven't had time to present on the broadcast. We'll send them all to you as our thank you gift when you make a financial contribution to support this ministry.

And as an added way of saying thanks, we'll also include a copy of Tony's insightful book "Experiencing God Together". In it, he shows how loving and serving others is a powerful way to experience God more deeply in your own life.

To take advantage of this limited-time offer, visit TonyEvans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 to speak with a member of our resource team. I'll share our contact information again after part two of today's lesson and this.

Guest (Male): How do you share the Gospel with confidence? What's God's plan for our communities? Why does the Old Testament matter to your faith today? Those are just a few of the questions you'll get answered when you enroll in the Tony Evans Training Center, an interactive online study experience with Dr. Tony Evans where you can grow in your knowledge of God's Word and learn to advance His Kingdom agenda in your life. Visit TonyEvansTraining.org to get started today. That's TonyEvansTraining.org.

Guest (Male): Well, let's get back to Dr. Evans now with more from the tenth chapter of Ecclesiastes.

Dr. Tony Evans: There is an evil, verse five, I have seen under the sun. Here's our phrase again. Like an error which goes forth from the ruler. Folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places, well-funded places.

I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land. I've seen great reversals. He who digs a pit may fall into it and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. That is, wisdom doesn't prevent every accident.

Wisdom doesn't mean that there won't be difficulties, that there won't be challenges. Wisdom does not create a perfect life, but it does give you better options in life. He who digs a pit may fall into it. So you may dig a pit, but there still could be a snake there. The benefit of wisdom is that it gives you the advantage.

Wisdom gives you the edge up. Even though you may not be as rich, you may not be as smart, if you're wise you have the edge. If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer, obviously.

Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him. So a wise man knows how to speak in an opportune way. The beginning of his talking is folly and the end is wicked madness.

In other words, a fool starts talking foolishly and when he finishes talking, he winds up conceiving wicked plans. Yet the fool multiplies words. One way to know a fool is how much they talk. No man knows what will happen and who can tell him what will come after him? Why? Because he's not listening; he's talking.

The toil of a fool so wearies him that he does not even know how to go to a city. A fool gets confused easily. Woe to you O land whose king is a lad and his princes feast in the morning. In other words, woe to the land who has an irresponsible, immature person leading it.

Blessed are you O land whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time for strength and not for drunkenness. In other words, they're not just indulging. They know when to be working and when to be eating. They're responsible.

Through indulgence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks. So any of y'all got leaky houses? That's because you ain't taking care of it. Through slackness the house leaks.

A lot of things, the second law of thermodynamics tells us that things unattended will tend toward deterioration. In other words, if you leave something alone you don't have to hurt it; it will deteriorate on its own. You don't have to pour dust into your house; just don't dust and things will get dusty.

In other words, you leave things alone and they will disintegrate. We try to take care of our health. Leave your health alone and you will become unhealthy because things left to themselves unattended will tend toward deterioration. So that's why we keep things up in order for that not to happen. Let me go a little bit in chapter eleven.

He says, "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters for you will find it after many days." So cast your bread on the surface of the water and you will find it after many days. Give your investments time to grow. Or as Proverbs says, don't pursue get-rich-quick schemes.

If it tells you you're going to get rich quick, avoid it. Avoid it. Virtually anything that you plan for to get you rich quick is taking your money. Cast your bread upon the water—that's your investment—and it will return to you after many days. In other words, give it time to grow.

Divide your portions to seven or even to eight, for you do not know the misfortune that may occur on earth. In other words, diversify. Cast it out, but diversify. Or put it another way, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Because you don't know what will happen and if it's all in one basket and something happens to a hole in that one basket, everything is gone. So you diversify that which you have been given.

If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, whatever the tree falls, there it lies. He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

In other words, you don't limit yourself to the convenience. If you see the wind, "Oh, I ain't going to do nothing today." If you see the clouds, "Oh, it's going to rain, I ain't going to do nothing today." If you keep procrastinating because of circumstances, you'll never get anything done.

He who watches the wind will not sow, he who looks at the cloud will not reap. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. You never know how God's going to do something. God is unpredictable.

And let me just say a word about this. Never, ever, never box God into how you think He ought to do something. Never do that. That's one of the things that I've learned. Because God will destroy your box every time.

If you're just looking for God to do something this one way, He knows how to throw a curveball. So you never box God into your limited perspective and framework. His thoughts are not your thoughts, His ways are not your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, there's just no comparison.

Give God the freedom to be God. So just say, "Okay God, here's what I think, here's how I feel, but Your will." Because I want to open this thing up for any way You choose to do it. Sow your seed in the morning, verse six, and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed or whether both of them alike will be good. In other words, be industrious.

The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all and let him remember the days of darkness for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.

As you get older, as life begins to ebb away from us as it will in all of our cases, you want to make sure you've maximized life because you can't go back and live it. You can't go back and live it. You have what you have.

Now, I know a lot of us wish we could go back because we'd change some things. Well, today is the tomorrow that you were looking forward to yesterday. Today is the tomorrow you were—now I know some of you are going to take a minute for that one—but today is the tomorrow you were looking forward to yesterday. Because yesterday you were looking forward to tomorrow, which is in fact today. Are we together here?

So you want to max out today. You don't want to worry about tomorrow because the Bible says tomorrow will have enough trouble of its own. Matthew six. But you don't want to dwell on yesterday.

I told you I go back to Baltimore and I still got 65-year-old men talking about yesterday. They're still on that same corner. And it's all about yesterday, what we used to do yesterday. You can't change yesterday. You can't change the good, you can't change the bad, you can't change the ugly.

But you can mess up your day by spending today too much time on it. And if you mess up today, you have jeopardized tomorrow. If yesterday consumes today, you've jeopardized tomorrow. So don't jeopardize your tomorrow because then that will just mean another wasted day in your life.

Rejoice O young man during—he's going to set up chapter twelve here. Rejoice young man during your childhood and let your heart be pleasant during the days of your manhood and follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

He says, "Go for it," but I just want you to know when you go for it, you and God going to talk about it. So that puts a check in what you're going for. My father would ruin many a Saturday night.

I'm sixteen, seventeen years old now so I can go out a little bit, and raised in a strong Christian home, and so I'm going out it's Friday night it's Saturday night. And so I'm going out on my way out the door he says, "Now Tony, I need you remember one thing. Your last name is Evans."

As soon as he said that, that cut a bunch of stuff out. Just cut it. "Your last name is Evans and I'm going to talk to you about anything that messes up my name." Well shoot, I might as well stay home then.

So he says, "Max it out." He says, "Go for it," but know we're going to talk about it. And that's the whole of chapter twelve. Chapter twelve is really good for your teenagers too.

But we'll conclude here with verse ten of chapter eleven: "So remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting."

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans on the importance of grounding our lives in God's truth. Well, as I mentioned earlier, today's lesson is taken from Dr. Evans' sermon series called "How to Avoid a Wasted Life".

For just a few more days now, we are offering the full-length version of all nine lessons in this series along with a copy of Tony's book "Experiencing God Together", a look at how our connection with others can deepen our relationship with God. Both of these resources are available when you make a contribution to help support the ministry of the Alternative.

Call us today to make the arrangements at 1-800-800-3222. A member of our friendly resource team is ready to help you there anytime of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222. Or visit TonyEvans.org to take advantage of this special package. You'll find the details right on the homepage. Again, that's TonyEvans.org.

Life has a way of lifting us up one moment and letting us down the next. On Monday Dr. Evans explores the tension of joy and frustration living side-by-side and why those ups and downs can leave us searching for something more. Be sure to join us.