Living For Self or
Bearing Fruit
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to
find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,”
I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I
tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me
with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens
during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted
vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all
kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to
water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and
female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more
herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I
amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I
acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights
of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone
in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
What
did the Teacher decide to test himself with (verse 1)?
What does the Teacher say “is madness” (verse 2)?
How did the Teacher try to cheer himself up (verse
3)?
In your opinion, what would motivate the
Teacher undertake “great projects” (verses
4, 5, and 6)?
In your opinion, why would the Teacher gather
all the possessions (verses 7 and 8)?
What did the Teacher become (verse 9)?
What did the Teacher deny himself (verse 10)?
In your opinion, how would the Teacher’s heart
taking “delight in all my labor” be a
reward for all his toil (verse 10)?
What did the Teacher think when he “surveyed all that my hands had done and
what I had toiled to achive” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Matthew
5:27-30 - New International
Version (NIV)
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If
your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be
thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you
to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part
of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
What
does Jesus say His listeners had heard (verse
27)?
What has the person “who looks at a woman lustfully” already done (verse 28)?
How should we react if our right eye causes us
to stumble (verse 29)?
How should we react if our right hand causes
us to stumble (verse 30)?
In your opinion, why is it better “to lose one part of your body than for your
whole body to be thrown into hell” (verse 30)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what does Jesus in Matthew 5:27-30
help us understand about what the Teacher was doing when he “denied myself nothing my eyes desired” according
to Ecclesiastes 2:1-11?
Galatians
5:13-25 – New
International Version (NIV)
13 You, my brothers and
sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the
flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For
the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.” 15 If
you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each
other.
16 So I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For
the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are
not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by
the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are
obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry
and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies,
and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will
not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in
step with the Spirit.
What
does Paul instruct us that Christian freedom should be used for (verse 13)?
How is the entire law fulfilled (verse
14)?
When will we be destroyed by each
other (verse 15)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean
when he says “walk by the Spirit, and you
will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (verse 16)?
What is “contrary to the Spirit” (verse 17)?
When are we “not under the law” (verse 18)?
What is obvious (verse 19)?
Who will not “inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 21)?
What are “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control” (verses 22 and 23)?
In your opinion, what does it mean
to have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (verse 24)?
Why should we “keep in step with the Spirit” (verse 25)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are the conclusion that
the Teacher came to after rewarding himself with everything he desired in
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 and Paul’s discussion in Galatians 5:16-25 about the
desires of the flesh similar?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion
about crucifying “the flesh with its
passions and desires” in Galatians 5:16-25 help us understand Jesus’s
statement in Matthew 5:27-30 “it is
better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be
thrown into hell”?
Hebrews
12:1-3 – New
International Version (NIV)
1 Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before
him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. 3 Consider
him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary
and lose heart.
What surrounds Christians (verse 1)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles” (verse 1)?
How are we to run the “race marked out for us” (verse 1)?
Where do we fix our eyes (verse 2)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he
calls Jesus the “pioneer and perfecter of
faith” (verse 2)?
Why did Jesus endure the cross (verse 2)?
Where did Jesus sit down (verse 2)?
Why should we consider Jesus, “who endured such opposition from sinners” (verse
3)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how is the focus of the
Teacher in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 different from the focus that Paul suggests in
Hebrews 12:1-3?
In your opinion, what is similar between the
focus on the woman that Jesus condemns in Matthew 5:27-30 and the focus on
Jesus that Paul recommends in Hebrews 12:1-3?
In your opinion, what can we learn when we consider
that in Galatians 5:13-25 Paul says that “the
entire law is fulfilled by keeping this one command: “love your neighbor as
yourself” and in Hebrews 12:1-3 he tells us to “run with perseverance”?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Ecclesiastes,
Matthew, Galatians and Hebrews teach us about the consequences of focusing on
ourselves?
In your opinion, how can we, living in sinful
flesh and in a sin filled world, bear the “fruit
of the Spirit”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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