The small orphanage just across the Mexican border provided our college ministry team a unique opportunity to expand our spiritual horizons. Eighteen of us spent the week together constructing a small house in Matamoros and traveled each afternoon to play with children who daily welcomed our arrival. On the last day of our visit, I handed out coloring books and crayons to several children and sat down on the ground among them. One girl invited me to color on one page of her book while she worked on the other. After about 10 minutes, my new friend indicated that she wanted to help me and, in an instant, took over the small masterpiece I had created on my page. I watched in horror as she broke every universal coloring rule that has ever been established. She worked on the picture upside down! Completely insensitive to color harmony, she colored Cinderella’s face blue and her hands orange. She used the black crayon (which no one ever uses). And then, her final, fatal move: In her feverish scribbling, she colored outside the lines.
I thought, only a child would wander outside the lines. Only a child would be so reckless. Only a child could care less about following established rules for neatness and order. And, with that, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus' strange teaching that all of us must be like little children to participate in the Kingdom life.
Jesus said to His disciples, “I have come that you might have life and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). My purpose is to eradicate your lifeless spirit of complacency, spiritual ignorance and lethargy and to revive your soul so that you have life… so that there is vitality and vigor in your being! And when I give you this life, you will have it abundantly––to the full. I will give you an unlimited, generous portion. And, it will overflow and flood every part of you, in every activity, of every moment, of every day. You will be known as someone whose walk and talk are brimming, bursting, jam-packed, chock-full, loaded, stuffed and exploding with life!
However, when Jesus said “abundant” some thought He said “redundant,” and have become trapped in the regular rut of routine. We have drawn a line around our world of comfort, security and safety and are afraid of what would really happen if we were to venture out into the kind of life that Jesus was talking about—an overflowing, unbounded, risky kind of life coloring outside those lines. We come to the great banquet table of the abundant life that Jesus has promised, filled with the choicest experiences and opportunities and, with embarrassment, we whisper to our host that we’d be just satisfied with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
In Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, Solomon taught that, because there are so many uncertainties and unknown factors in life, we must either be willing to live outside the boundaries of our comfort zone or be resigned to a life of indecision and complacency. To enter into the great adventure of the abundant life means to live on the edge. It means to color outside the lines.
In these six verses, we are reminded of 3 unknowns in life.
First, in verse 2, Solomon states that we cannot know what disasters might creep up unexpectedly. None of us can guarantee what will happen tomorrow. We cannot plan so much or see into the future to predict that when we wake up in the morning, all will be as well as it was the day before.
We can hope for the best in our relationships, but we cannot be sure that they will not end in betrayal or hurt. We can invest in the best stocks and bonds, but we can’t guarantee what the market will do tomorrow. We may leave one job for a better one, but we can’t foresee whether the next company will be better or worse. In every venture in life, lurks the possibility of disaster. You just never know.
Second, in verse 5, Solomon explains that we cannot understand or know the work of God. We may know that God is working in our midst, just like we know that the wind blows or a baby is born. But we can’t chart the path of the wind or fully understand the intricacies of the conception and growth of a baby. And, in the same way, we cannot fully understand the hand of God. The Lord said in Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In chapter 3, Solomon writes that people “cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” We cannot fully comprehend why or how God does what He does.
How can the righteous suffer and the wicked receive blessings? Why do catastrophes happen? When should we proceed and when should we wait? Every person, at one time or another, has had questions about the purposes and the will of God. We know that He is providentially behind everything in the world, yet we can’t always understand exactly what God is doing. You just never know.
Third, Solomon writes that we cannot know which things will succeed in life and which ones will fail. Victory can never be predicted. Soon after we bought our first house, we received a brochure from a mail-order nursery enticing us to take advantage of their special offer on spring flowers. Zealously, we ordered and planted 240 bulbs. The next year, 15 bloomed. We were so frustrated that we tilled up all three flower beds, yanked out all the bulbs we could find and planted other flowers in their place. The next year, another 30 bulbs came up.
We’ve seen basketball games come down to the last second and, at the buzzer, a player launches the ball from full court and sinks the basket to win the game. We’ve also seen other games where one team was slated to win hands down and ended up making a critical blunder which cost them the game. We can speculate, but we can never determine which ventures will succeed or fail. You just never know.
Solomon writes that, when faced with these certain uncertainties of life, most people, like deer in the headlights of an approaching car, are paralyzed with fear. In verses 3 and 4, He offers the example of farmers who are afraid to plant seeds because the wind might carry them away and are afraid to harvest their crops because of impending rain. However, in Proverbs 26:1, we learn that rain was as common in the harvest season as snow was in summer. This means that the farmers were scrutinizing themselves silly! The more they studied every detail of every situation the more they fell victim to analysis paralysis.
How many opportunities have been lost simply because we've been held in the grip of indecision? I know of a man who has needed to change jobs to save his marriage. Although he has spent a great deal of time thinking about it, his relationship with his wife disintegrates as he does nothing. Perhaps you have letters that need to be written. Or, you have relationships that need to be reconciled. Have you been getting phone calls from people asking you to volunteer in some ministry and so far, all you’ve said is that you will think about it?
It's a fact that some people won’t do tomorrow what they can put off until next week. They have the spiritual gift of procrastination. And when they're faced with the uncertainties of life, they surmise, hypothesize, scrutinize and philosophize but never mobilize because they're afraid of coloring outside the lines. We shouldn’t allow what we don’t know about life to stand in the way of a decision to do something. If we really want to be challenged to live life on the edge, our text tells us how. These are not easy principles. But, they are the only road that leads to the full life that Jesus has promised.
Lose to gain. In verse 1, we read “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.” Now this doesn’t really appear to be an incentive at first glance. If I throw my sandwich overboard, I’m not interested in having it return! But Solomon is referring to grain and other cargo. Literally, he is saying, if you make an investment, in time you will see a return. But, no risk—no reward.
This is a foundational principle of the Christian life. Gaining only comes by losing. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:23-24). Again, He taught, “…unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There is no possibility of return in your spiritual journey if you are not prepared to risk an investment. To see your next door neighbors come to Christ you’ll have to risk love and hospitality. For your coworker to come to church you'll have to risk an invitation. To have a relationship restored, you must humbly risk a confession and apology. If you want to know your Bible better, you will have to risk some disciplined time that you might have set aside for other things. To catch a vision for the world, you may have to risk personal comfort and language barriers through a short-term mission experience.
Someone has once said that the hardest part of any job is “just doing it.” But, if we dare to lose ourselves now, we will find the rewards in life all the greater. Missionary Jim Elliott once said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Think broadly. Verse 2 suggests that we wisely divide our investment among several areas. Solomon says, “Diversify!” Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Be creative with your investment! One year, our church gave each attendee $1 to multiply with their talents. A month later, we gathered to hear encouraging testimonies from each other. Children created pictures and sold them. Some ladies baked delicious foods. A few offered lessons in computers, sailing, sewing and golf. One family used their dollar to buy posterboard to advertise their garage sale. That day, $1100 was multiplied to almost $25,000. It was proof that, when people really want to invest themselves, they’ll never be at a loss about how to do it.
When we live life coloring inside the lines, we’re blind to creative new approaches to ministry and the spiritual life. Be careful if you ever hear yourself saying, “We’ve never done it that way before!” If you haven't, you're probably way overdue! If Jesus Christ has given us abundant life and my life is not presently abundant, then there must be something I’m missing. And, if all I keep doing are the same things that I have always done, then I may never enjoy life to the full.
Ask the Lord to show you creative ways to spend yourself. Why not start a lunchtime Bible study at your job? As a ministry to a neighbor, offer to watch their children once a week. Write a note of encouragement to a coworker. Visit the homebound people of your church. Decide to study a book of the Bible that you've never read before. Try fasting for a day or take a half-day one weekend and spend it in prayer. Begin memorizing, not just a verse, but a whole chapter of the Bible. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.
Even as you read this, you might be coming up with excuses as to why you couldn’t do this thing or that. Excuses are what our minds supply to protect us from the unknowable things of life.
One writer has said, “Expand the bookends of your life!” Step out into uncharted territory. Be broad in your thinking. Dare to color outside the lines.
Sow continually. Verse 6 is a fitting end for this passage. It is one thing to give yourself away and to be available to do whatever God would have you do. It is quite another thing to keep at it. When catastrophe hits, when everything right seems to turn out wrong, or when we don’t see any benefit in our efforts, it’s tempting to throw in the towel.
Don’t be discouraged. The prophet Jeremiah preached for 40 years without anyone listening to him. Sometimes lives and circumstances take a very long time to change. In fact, for the very reason that we don’t know what lurks around the corner, because we don’t know what God is doing, and because we don’t know which of our efforts will succeed or fail, we should persevere in living life outside the lines.
There is a Persian legend told of a king who wanted to hire a faithful servant. There were two candidates for the position, so he sent them both out with a basket and a bucket. Their task was to draw water from a well and pour it in the basket. After two loads, one servant said to the other, “What good is it for us to be doing this meaningless work? As soon as we pour the water in, it runs out the sides of the basket.” With that, he left. The other servant stayed at the task until the well was dry. Suddenly, he looked down into the well and there at the bottom was a diamond ring. “Now I understand,” he exclaimed. “If I would have pulled up the ring before the end, the basket would have caught it so that it wouldn't be lost. My work was not useless after all!”
The writer of Hebrews invites us to remember the life of Jesus Christ who endured to the end. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (12:32-33).
We may never know this side of heaven what good any of our actions may have. But never give up. Solomon writes, “Sow in the morning and in the evening.” Who knows which seed will bear fruit?
There are five key areas that, if we persist in our sowing, we are sure to bear the fruit of an abundant life:
- Evangelism. There are enormous uncertainties in the work of sharing the gospel. Many are paralyzed with the thought of speaking the truth of Christ to someone else. Certainly, there’s some risk. But every day that we spend inside the lines and neglect the work of evangelism is a day that someone lives outside the abundant life that God has promised. The world is dying to hear the gospel. Sow continually.
- Personal Ministry. Statistically, ministry in most American churches is accomplished by a very small percentage of attendees. Many ministries are starving for people to come and give themselves away. God has gifted every Christian with unique gifts and His enabling Holy Spirit so that they can follow the example of Jesus in service. Begin by finding out what your church offers to help you discover your spiritual gift. Persist in finding the match between your gift and an opportunity for ministry. It may be that your gift determines a new ministry in your congregation!
- Financial Stewardship. The way that we spend our money is an indication whether or not we are living life on the edge. God will not give us any more that He knows we can handle. In the same way, everything that He gives us He expects us to use for His glory. Reevaluate how you spend what God has placed in your care and ask yourself if you are placing stock in eternal things.
- Prayer. What other exercise of the Christian life sometimes seems so fruitless yet always yields the largest crop?! The best place to go to make a difference with your life is on your knees. Richard Foster wrote that “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the Christian life.” Prayer does not precede the work of the Christian, it is the work of the Christian. And, faithful, fervent prayer causes us to experience the fullness of a relationship with God.
- Forgiveness. Forgiveness, unlike these others, is not a task but a spiritual condition. Unforgiveness is one of the greatest barriers to freedom. Many people are traveling through a miserable life because they carry baggage of bitterness, anger and hurt. The grace of Jesus enables us to carry the load of injury from another person so that we can begin exploring a liberated life in Him.
In Ephesians 5:16, Paul writes, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” To “make the most of every opportunity” means to live on the edge…to live without regrets…to live so courageously that we are not afraid to color outside the lines. Are you enjoying the abundant, full, overflowing life to which Jesus has called you? Or are you sinking back from the certain uncertainties of life and doing nothing? Charles Spurgeon asked:
“Here is a good searching question for a man to ask himself as he reviews his past life: Have I written in the snow? Will my life-work endure the lapse of years and the fret of change? Has there been anything immortal in it, which will survive the speedy wreck of all sublunary things? The boys inscribe their names in capitals in the snow, and in the morning’s thaw, the writing disappears. Will it be so with my work, or will the characters that I have carved outlast the brazen tablets of history. Have I written in the snow?”