What Does It Mean to Be a "Breadcaster"?
The major component missing in the preacher’s life was not the quantity of things but the quality of rich relationships.
Yesterday, we looked at what it would be like to live the American Dream and how one man, the author of Ecclesiastes, had the chance to do just that. We read Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 which says,
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.3 If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
A quick scan of these verses indicates they're nothing more than some tidbits of investment information. Put another way, we might substitute the preacher’s words with phrases like, “Diversify your portfolio,” or “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” But there is an additional message we should consider.
When you put these words in the context of all the preacher wrote before this point, there is a juxtaposition to what he says. On one hand, it’s simple. Invest what you have so you can see a return. But these words come on the tail of some tremendous regret. So, on one hand, the preacher seems to offer a clear path to financial wealth. But on the other, he recognizes the fruits of such a pursuit are fleeting.
It’s like watching one of those 1970s commercials that market Camels as the cigarette of choice for doctors.
As you do, you will feel this weird paradox wash over you. On the screen, the young man with neatly combed hair sits next to a gorgeous blond woman, each taking a long puff followed by a warm smile. Everything about the scenario seems heartwarming. It’s the ideal life, the American Dream. But as we watch today, we can hardly do so without attempting some verbal warning to viewers of the past. “Don’t do it,” our minds scream. “Smoking will damage your lungs. It will cause cancer!”
And so, with the preacher, we can’t help but read Ecclesiastes 11 without a warning label. Yes, invest. Increase what you have. Diversify your portfolio. But never lose sight of what really matters. As I've read and re-read these six verses over the past fifteen years, I began thinking about the best way to apply them to my life. How could I take the preacher’s advice to heart without turning into the man he became?
