Steve Webb 0:00 Two are better than one and three are even better. Steve Webb 0:04 This is the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you almost live from Riverside, California podcasting since 2004. I'm your OG Godcaster Steve Webb. This episode is pre recorded since I'm still on vacation. It's poetry Thursday, reading will be Ecclesiastes three and four. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact information at the end of the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for Your Word. We thank you for our time together. Teach us today touch our hearts. I pray in Jesus name, amen. Okay, let's begin. Steve Webb 0:44 Ecclesiastes chapter three. There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time. There is a time to be born at a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants, there is a time to kill at a time to heal. There is a time to destroy at a time to build, there is a time to cry, and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad, and to time to dance with joy. There is a time to throw weapons down at a time to pick them up. There is a time to hug someone. and it's time to stop holding so tightly. There is a time to look for something and a time to consider it last. There is a time to keep things at a time to throw things away. There is a time to tear cloth, and it's time to sew it. There is a time to be silent, and a time to speak. There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war, and a time for peace. Do people really gain anything from their hard work? I saw all the hard work God gave us to do. God gave us the ability to think about his world. But we can never completely understand everything he does. and yet he does everything at just the right time. I learned that the best thing for people to do is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. God wants everyone to eat, drink and enjoy their work. These are gifts from God. I learned that anything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to the work of God, and they cannot take anything away from it. God did this so that people would respect him. What happened in the past has happened, and what will happen in the future will happen. But God wants to help those who have been treated badly. I also saw these things in this life, I saw that the courts should be filled with goodness and fairness, but there is evil there now. So I said to myself, God has planted time for everything. and he has planted time to judge everything people do. He will judge good people and bad people thought about what people do to each other. and I said to myself, God wants people to see that they are like animals, the same thing happens to animals and to people, they die. People and animals have the same breath is a dead animal different from a dead person. It is all so senseless. The bodies of people and animals in the same way they came from the earth and in the end, they will go back to the earth. Who knows what happens to a person spirit. Who knows if a human spirit goes up to God while an animal spirit goes down into the ground. So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy what they do, because that is all they have. Besides, no one can help another person see what will happen in the future. Steve Webb 3:56 Ecclesiastes chapter four. Again, I saw that many people are treated badly. I saw their tears and I saw that there was no one to comfort them. I saw that cruel people had all the power. and I saw that there was no one to comfort the people they hurt. I decided that it is better for those who have died than for those who are still alive. and it is even better for those who die at birth because they never saw the evil that is done in this world. Then I thought Why do people work so hard? I saw people try to succeed and be better than other people. They do this because they're jealous. They don't want other people to have more than they have. This is senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind. Some people say it is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing. If you don't work, you will starve to death. and maybe that is true. But I say it is better to be satisfied with the few things you have than to always be struggling to get more. and again, I saw something else that didn't make sense. I saw a man who has no family, not a son or even a brother. But he continues to work very hard. He is never satisfied with what he has. and he works so hard that he never stops and asks himself, why am I working so hard? Why don't I let myself enjoy my life. This is also a very bad and senseless thing. Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more work done. If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone, when they fall, have no one to help them. If two people sleep together, they'll be warm. But a person sleeping alone will not be warm. and enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back to back to defend each other. and three people are even stronger. They're like a rope that has three parts wrapped together. It is very hard to break. A young leader who is poor but wise is better than a king who is old but foolish. That old king does not listen to warnings. Maybe the young ruler was born a poor man in the kingdom. and maybe he came from prison to rule the country. But I have watched people in this life, and I know this, people will follow that young man, he will become the new King. Many people will follow this young man, but later those same people will not like him. This is also senseless, it is like trying to catch the wind. Steve Webb 6:33 Well, beloved, these two chapters, while not entirely inspiring seem to be a little less hopeless sounding than the first two, don't you think? There's a lot to think about here. But in our limited time, I'd like to focus for just a moment on chapter four. Halfway through that chapter, Solomon talked about the man who works so hard, he has no family, no son, or even a brother. and he said that this is a bad and senseless thing to do. No disagreement there, right. But then he talks about a better alternative. The next four verses explained that Two are better than one and three are even better. and like Solomon here in my older years, I've learned that this is indeed true. My dad was very much a loner, he was what we call a self made man. and he worked literally seven days a week until he got too old to work. In all of my childhood years until I moved out of the house at the age of 21. He probably took no more than a total in all that time of a month off work for a very few short vacations. That sad. He did pretty well for himself financially, but he was never rich. But for a guy who barely finished the eighth grade, he did, okay. He had a difficult childhood. and when I was a boy, he taught me that friends would always let you down, and that it's better to keep people at arm's length. Don't let anybody in, do things on your own. Don't ask for help figure things out yourself, be your own man. Well, it wasn't until many, many years later that I found out just how poor that makes you. Even if you do have a lot of money. and when my dad died, he had no friends at his funeral. Nobody there but my mom, my sister and her three kids, my wife, my kids and me to mourn him. Now my father in law was the exact opposite of my dad. He was a giving and warm and caring, loving man. He worked almost until the day he died, but not because he was trying to accumulate money, but because he barely made enough to pay the bills. and he was an integral part of our church and he was there whenever the doors were open. Literally. I can't even tell you all the jobs he had at the church over the years. Suffice it to say that if he saw something that needed to be done, and it wasn't being done, he jumped in and did it. and everyone loved and respected rip Collins when he died, there was not an empty seat in the church nor a dry eye in the house. Rip Collins died a rich man, not financially, but in every other way. I have no doubt that when he met Jesus, he heard a hearty, well done good and faithful servant. My father in law knew that it is better to be with people than to go it alone. There is no virtue in being a self made man if you close out the world in the process. Have you known somebody like that? Let me know. Tomorrow. We'll be prophecy Friday and will read the book of Zephaniah. I do want to hear from you. and yes, I did say do if you have a comment or question a prayer request or a praise report, send them to me with a Boostagram or to leave a voice message call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 or four prayer requests and praise reports. You can go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com You'll find a form there. and if you want to remain anonymous, you can let me know right there. and for comments or questions go to comment dot Lifespringmedia.com and lastly, my email address is Steve at Lifespring media.com. Steve Webb 10:15 Thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner brothers Scott Snider, Jason Paschall and SR Brittaney for their donations of time and talent. God bless you guys. Brother Scott did today show art. Thank you, Scott. Beloved, I'm so glad you're in my life. Thanks for taking me with you today. Shall we do it again tomorrow. Until then, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye Announcer 10:43 the Lifespring! One Year Bible is solely supported by your value for value donations of time, talent or treasure. Transcribed by https://otter.ai