The Book of Ecclesiastes became my lamp of lament, although it offered little to my wife. But in those well-thumbed pages, I found a light to shine on the path of pain. For most of the summer of 1999, it was the only book of the Bible I could read, because it speaks truth to the brokenness of this world and my own.

Douglas Groothuis, "Bedeviled by My Wife's Dementia"

How to Have a Great Summer (and a Great Life)—Guidance from Ecclesiastes 11 and 12.

I used the following (slightly edited) outline to share some thoughts with my College Class at church on Sunday. We finished a year-long study of Ecclesiastes, and through teaching the book, I have grown to love it more and more.

1.    Be willing to take risks. (Eccl. 11:1-5.)

What makes a good story makes a good life. If your life is about making enough money to buy a new car, a new iPad, and new clothes, you’re living a lousy story. If you want a meaningful life, give yourself to the cause of God’s work. Do something meaningful for a cause bigger than yourself.

“If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.

But we spend years actually living those [kinds of] stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either.” - Miller

2.    Live your days to the fullest. (Eccl. 11:6)

3.    Live with a pervasive awareness of God, and enjoy the moments He has given you now.  (Eccl. 11:7-10)

vv. 7-8: Enjoy the good experiences God gives you.

vv. 9-10: These verses are not saying we should be hedonists. “The Preacher’s admonition to follow your heart and the desires of the eyes may sound like dangerous advice. . . . But by now you know to think hard about what the Preacher means in context of his whole book. … Fulfilling your natural human desires is not wrong when it is done as God intended. This is precisely the reason for the final sentence of 11:9. . . . You must live aware of God in order to be joyful, and the result of living aware of God is a life of joy.” – Ramey

“Your innate desires may very well lead you in God’s will for your future. Young people normally wonder what to do with their lives. . . . One place to look for guidance is, very simply, at what you want to do. Natural aptitude and inclination are excellent guides; after all, God made no mistake when He assembled you and orchestrated your childhood experiences. Do not be afraid to pursue your heart’s desires, but do so constantly aware of God and His Word. Whatever He calls you to . . . will be the most joyful occupation possible.” - Ramey

4.    Remember your Creator while you are young. (Eccl. 12:1-8)

This is only one of three times God is called “The Creator” in the Old Testament. The point is that God designed you and the world you live in. He’s the one who knows how your soul is supposed to work, and how we become truly happy. So don’t live life apart from Him. Remember Him—consider Him. Put Him often before your mind.

Verses 2-7 are a poem about what it’s like to grow old. (Avoid a life of regret.) 

5.    Be awed by the Word of God. (Eccl. 12:9-12)

Solomon says he took the time to carefully craft “words of delight.” This is significant because it shows that the Bible is not a theology textbook—it’s much more than that.  This book is not just for our minds, but for our hearts. Take time each day to let this book touch your heart.

6.    To sum it all up: fear God, and keep his commandments. (Eccl. 12:13-14)

“The final poem of Ecclesiastes summarizes what we have to do. Remember everything included in the fear of God—it is the same as saying, ‘Remember God.’ This is the whole of man, everything there is to human existence. More than just duty, it is our purpose and our ultimate joy. God’s coming judgment is a terror only to those who oppose Him. To those who fear, love, obey, and enjoy Him, it is the guarantee of eternal life and fulfillment—beyond the sun.” -- Ramey

J. Stafford Wright on Ecclesiastes' place in the canon:

[Ecclesiastes] is a unique book, and its omission from the Bible would be a definite loss. Quite obviously it is not the last word on the problems of life, for it belongs to the Old Testament and not to the New. But its solution is along the consistent Bible lines that appear in both the Old and the New Testaments. Is it only by chance that Paul in Romans 8, after speaking of the vanity of the whole creation, goes on to speak of the sufferings that create a problem even for the Christian, and [of] the confidence of the Christian in his daily life that all things work together for good for him? "All things" means those … events that we share in common with all mankind, where the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. The world is not weighted in our favor. But the same things which break the man of the world can make the Christian, if he takes them from the hand of God. Go on looking for the key that will unify the whole of life. 

You must look for it. God has made you like that, sore travail though it be. But you will not find it in the world; you will not find it in life . . . No philosophy of life can satisfy if it leaves out Christ. Yet even the finest Christian philosophy must own itself baffled. But do not despair. There is a life to be lived day by day. And in the succession of apparently unrelated events God may be served and God may be glorified. And in this daily service of God we may find pleasure, because we are fulfilling the purpose for which God made us. (From "Interpretation of Ecclesiastes")