15.03.2026 - Ecclesiastes 11 - Enjoying Life
Preacher: Adam Johnston
Also available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/J782p27qTAg
Big Idea (Whole Chapter): The way to live where hebel reigns is through generosity and enjoyment knowing God will hold everyone to account for how they have enjoyed his gifts.
Aim (Whole Chapter): Be generous with what you have, enjoy what you are given and happy while you are young.
Talk Headings - Verses 7-10
1. Ecclesiastes Recap
2. Take joy in each day (vv. 7-8)
3. Be happy while you are young (vv. 9-10)
Questions for us: Verses 1-6:
1. Recap: What is hebel?
2. Imagine you are speaking to someone who is in one of these situations. What would you advise them to do:
Scenario 1: Looking for a job. Your friend is looking for a new job and tells you that three job adverts have arrived in their email inbox that afternoon. Do you advise them to:
1. Quickly send in applications to them all.
2. Compare each of them and apply for the one they like the best.
3. Wait and see if a better offer comes along.
Scenario 2: Waiting for an interview. Your friend gets invited to interview for a job that is exactly what they wanted but they are told there is only one opening and there are lots of applicants. Do advise them to:
1. Sit up worrying all night and cramming for the interview.
2. Assume someone else will get it so not bother to prepare.
3. Prepare well, rest and do their best.
Scenario 3: First month’s pay. Your friend is young and just started their first job and received their first month’s pay. Do you advise them to:
1. Immediately open a savings account.
2. Log in to Amazon and buy all the things they’ve had their eye on but not been able to afford before.
3. Invite their friends around for a party and pay for everything.
3. vv. 1-2: Which answers to the three scenarios above do these verses encourage us towards?
4. Why might living in a world subjected to hebel encourage us to generosity?
5. vv. 3-4: How much of your life is shaped by confident predictions of the future? How do you feel about taking risks?
6. Why might living in a world subjected to hebel encourage us to take risks?
7. vv. 5-6. Which answers to the three scenarios above do these verses encourage us towards? What should our limited knowledge of the world encourage us to do?
Verses 7-10: 1. The Teacher tells us to enjoy the days of our life because they are passing quickly. What tends to stop us from enjoying God’s daily gifts — busyness, worry, distraction, something else?
2. We can sometimes become grumpy, cynical, or joyless. Why do you think that happens? How can we cultivate genuine joy in God’s gifts?
3. What simple gifts of life do we often overlook or rush past without enjoying?
4. Douglass Jones writes: 'The broad Christian community has many, many books on joy, but few of them appear to grasp the weight of joy. They tend to talk rather stoically about how to feel pleasure in the midst of dysfunctional relationships. Joy is just a marginal psychological trait, not the centre of the universe.' What do you make of this quote?
5. Ecclesiastes encourages us to enjoy life while remembering that God will bring everything into judgment (v. 9). How do these two ideas fit together? How does remembering God’s judgment shape how we enjoy life?
6. In Luke 7:34 Jesus is criticised for enjoying the gifts of life. How should his example teach us about the place of joy, celebration, and friendship in the Christian life?
7. What one thing could you do differently this week to enjoy the gifts God has given you more?
