I am so delighted to share this resource! Yeah, I’m a little biased, but this is a really unique study. First there’s the in-depth, take-it-apart-verse-by-verse study of Ecclesiastes–what a book! In the process, sharpen your Bible study skills, dip a toe in some deep philosophy, and investigate how the Bible reconciles our struggles in a fallen world with the abundant life Jesus promised. At the heart of Ecclesiastes is a question– what will I do with the gift of life God has given? How will I spend my days? Thirty Thousand Days asks the exact same question. It’s not a commentary by any stretch, but a complement. Think of it as a tour guide– the fellow with his little microphone at the front of the bus piping up helpfully (“and on your right we see Big Ben, Parliament… Big Ben, Parliament…”)
You could certainly do this study all on your lonesome. It’s not specifically a women’s study, but the ladies at our church are tackling it this summer. I’ll be posting the audio clips of our introductory talks each week, and you can follow along at your own pace. Still, I think you’ll have a richer experience if you find some friends to walk through it with you.
My prayers:
- That God will help us fall more in love with His crazy, intricate, wise Word, and give us the tools to mine it for ourselves.
- That God will help us put down deep roots to weather storms.
- That God will challenge us to give our 30,000 days to Him.
- That we would be sick of fluff and long for depth.
- That God will make us brave enough to ask hard questions; that we will discover He is always ready with a hard but hopeful answer.
I’m including the whole shebang here in pdf form. It is free for your use, and I would love for you to print and distribute it to your small group, Sunday school class, PTA– you know, wherever. You might want to print it out in chunks, since it’s kind of huge, or have the whole thing bound at FedEx or somewhere to keep in workbook format. The whole study will take you 12 weeks (perfect for summer!) If you do use it, please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think, what God did.
Catherine's Letters 