Tossed bread.

Ecc. 11:1 Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days.

What an odd thing to think about, to cast bread on the water, what happens if we do that? Will it come back later or will fish and birds consume it, or perhaps just sink to the bottom and decay? It is hard to expect a loaf or even pieces of bread to float back to us once it has been tossed out, rather it will dissolve and not be found again at all, so more likely it we might say our bread is gone and lost.

Or is it? Fishermen know that bread might be used for bait to catch fish. Others know that birds will come and eat crumbs until nothing is left. If anything remains of bread it nourishes the ever lower forms of life, so that nothing is lost or wasted, whether on the ground or in the water. Maybe our bread cast out does return as we find a bounty in what is fed by it.

Ecc 11:2 Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

We become focused on one goal and at times we build in the path of ruin. We speak only to those who understand as we do, to those who we desire and approve of, seeking our will portrayed as hope. It isn't our choice on where to place our efforts but rather to the tasks that present themselves. Not by our own agendas can anything be built, nor by our dreams realised. It isn't by our will but by God's. The further we spread out what we do increases the influence our efforts make, we do not know with certainty the results, we know only a call to diligence in labour.

Ecc 11:3-5 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain upon the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies. He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds 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.

As much as we want to determine the future and to get what we want, to fulfill our own agendas and wishes, all things are by His will alone and for His purposes. Even when we act in wisdom and watch the signs we are limited to hoping for the results. What we do is in obedience not expecting reward but relying only on merciful grace. What reverence is there is saying "this we will do" and not follow it with "Lord willing"? With so many schemes and contrivances we go forward saying what will result when there is no guarantee at all.

Ecc. 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning 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.

How easy it is to do work and think the results are certain and that no more needs being done when complete. At times our work is done and no more is needed yet at others times there is only hope it will produce what we expected. Slackness and laziness will diminish a harvest. It is just as easy to neglect a sermon preached in the evening and place hope on only one preached in a morning. Is it a sermon preached in the morning or in the evening that reveals to the heart it's sinfulness and the need of Christ? It might be slothfulness and excuse for avoiding an opportunity then since we do not know the will of God and when His timing brings about an abundance. In diligence much is done, and in faithfulness much is produced, but in all things it is by God's own providence an increase is realised.

When we evangelise, and when a sermon is preached, are we casting our bread out on the waters or only tossing it where we want to find it? Maybe we aren't looking at God's will or providence but at our own agendas and prejudice. Is it our choice to say where a seed is planted or what we will reap from it? Often we want to save those we like, to ignore those we reject or believe worthless, to proclaim where we find satisfaction rather than go where the abundance is. Maybe we place confidence in ourselves and our intellect, supposing that those destined to be saved by God will be and already are saved so no effort is really needed to evangelise. Such is often the accusation against those that speak of election and predestination.

If we do believe in Election and Predestination of sinners to salvation, that God has chosen who He will redeem, then we must go forth to proclaim that Gospel and leave the choice to God alone. We can not choose who those are, when we pretend to do so then we only manipulate God, and those that seek to manipulate God are idolaters. Therefore, cast that Bread of Life out to every unworthy sinner having a broken and contrite heart, for it is effectual to each one who unconditionally belongs to Christ.

Luke 10:2 And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.


All Scripture texts quoted from NASB(1995)

Total Inability of Human Nature

The reason that we can’t help but fall short of God’s requirement of perfect love is because in our fallen state we are totally and completely corrupted. We are both conceived as sinners and we are born sinners, even before we act out in sin, sin permeates every fiber of our being. It’s only by God’s grace that such a completely corrupt race is not as evil as the demons themselves. God restrains the evil that we perpetuate by His grace, for without it we would be no less evil than the demons that are forever condemned.

We tend to externalize evil, and say to ourselves, “it affects us, but it’s outside of us.” What a terribly unbiblical view! Evil doesn’t merely come from the outside, but from the inside as well. We’re born sinners - that’s different from being born sinning. The one is a state of being while the other is a state of practice. The Scriptures are clear that in our natural state we are thoroughly sinful in our being, not just in our actions.

Think of the evil that’s outside of us: the evil of the world and of the Devil. These evils would only vex us, but never attract us unless there was something of that evil that dwelt within us. The reason that we are drawn to sin is because it’s part of our natural state. We sin simply because deep down inside we love to sin.

Once we confess that we sin because we love it, we will be able to overcome it by God’s grace. And what can overcome this love of sin? A greater love of God! Think for a minute about the relationship between love and hate. If you love children you’ll hate things that harm children. The same can be said of our love for God. If we love Him we’ll hate the things that cause Him pain. When we consider the great pains that Christ went through to pay for our sins how can we love Him and at the same time love that which killed Him? Can we love God and yet be entertained by movies and TV shows that take His name lightly, even using the name of Christ as a curse word? Are we deeply offended and vexed in spirit when our culture seeks to entertain us with the sins that kept our Savior on the cross, or are we entertained by such depravity? The Scriptures themselves tell us that …

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other… (Mat 6:24)

What are we serving: entertainment or God? What do we love? What do we hate? We can’t love Christ and that which killed Him! It’s time that we stopped playing church and started devoting ourselves to Christ. The Scriptures tell us quite plainly what this devotion should look like when they say to…

…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God… Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind… (Rom 12:1-2)

Let’s commit right here and now to stop living our lives for this world, and start living for God with a renewed mind! Let’s commit now to hold nothing back from God, but to give Him all that we are and have, to live sacrificially before Him!

If we find ourselves in love with the world, then we must take God very seriously when He tells us to…

…not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1Jn 2:15)

This condition is so serious that we can do nothing to rectify it ourselves. But we can thank God that He has done something to fix our natural inclination to hate Him and love the world. So we must put our trust in Him and not ourselves to redeem us from this terrible condition that we find ourselves in.

That’s why the Gospel is called, “Good news.” Despite our sinful nature, despite our love of the world, despite our hatred for God, despite our lukewarmness for God’s things and our passion for things that are not of God, despite all of this and more, God, in His mercy, has chosen to save His children. He is the one that saves us, we don’t save ourselves, we can’t – we’re too far gone. God demands perfect obedience and perfect love, and though we are unable, Christ is able - and Christ did live a life of perfect obedience and love. He kept every commandment; he loved God fully without any dissimulation. And this holy, pure Lamb of God suffered the terrible punishment and death on the cross so that our sins would be paid for. Everything that we have is tied up in Christ; nothing is our own except for sin and condemnation.

When we put our faith in Christ, trusting in Him fully and in Him only for our life and salvation, we’re given His holiness even as our sins are paid for by His death. Our sins are laid upon Him at the cross, and His perfect obedience and perfect love is laid upon us when we are drawn to Him for our salvation.

Nothing good dwells in us naturally, the only good that a man can have is Christ (Rom 7:18). Without Him we’re nothing, with Him we’re everything. Without Him we’re children of the Devil, with Him we’re children of the living God.

If you do not have faith in Christ, consider very seriously where you’re at. You’re a hater of God and man, a lover of sin and self. You are condemned and walk about this life with the wrath of God bearing down on you. Satan himself is dangling you over his mouth, ready to devour you throughout eternity. My prayer for you is that God would conquer your heart and make Himself Lord and Savior of your life. I pray that God would do whatever is needed – loss of family, loss of jobs, loss of health – to bring you to a saving knowledge of Christ. There is nothing more important …

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mar 8:36)

If you are unsure about your faith in Christ I implore you to search out the Scriptures to see if you are in the faith. If you are, ask God to give you certainty in your salvation. If you’re not, beg God to save you, for there is no one else who can.

If you have Christ as your Savior today be encouraged that this salvation is not just for your future in Heaven, but for your life right here and now. We’re not meant to be saved merely from Hell; we’re saved from the power of sin in our lives, the hatred that we harbor towards God and our fellow-man, the love of the world and the flesh. We’re saved from living a life that’s self-centered so that we can live a life that’s Christ-Centered by the power of His indwelling Spirit. Don’t settle for what this world has to offer. Don’t settle for waiting for Heaven without experiencing it here and now. Don’t settle for living a life of entertainment and ease, but live a life that is devoted to God no matter what struggles it brings. To put it simply, if you have Christ as your Savior then live the life that He died for you to live. And then we can say with Paul…

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

As we consider the awesome grace of Christ in saving us from our misery, and bringing us into a loving relationship with God as our Father, we should shout and sing for joy for the deliverance that we’ve been blessed with!