Preserving Life

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

PRESERVING LIFE

Eccl 7:7-12

7 Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. 9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

10 Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions. 11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. 12 Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

NIV

There are a lot of different individual sayings that maybe we should have taken them just one by one, but at the same time they could be seem all together. This word translated as extortion might also be translated fraud and it has to do with being oppressed. The bribe is in the center of this fraud or oppression. The bribe is the promise of something of value for a certain activity. It is usually seen as a promise of wealth in the context of Solomon’s writings. This is the promise that can corrupt the heart of a wise man. The wise man seeks God, the corrupt heart seeks the promised bribe. Sometime the beginning of this situation can seem alright, but it is far better to get it over with, to get to the end of foolishness, put it to rest and get back to the way it was before the bride came alone. In the Hebrew the word spirit is attached to this choice of being patient or prideful. To have patience in spirit is far better than to be high minded in the spirit. This is back to the wise and foolish. Only a fool would think more highly of himself then he ought, especially in spiritual matters. But the idea is that the high minded can be easily provoked, quickly provoked into anger which is foolish. It is far better to live with patience, to keep from those dumb conversations which lead to heated arguments over issues which will not be resolved. Those kind of words reside in the lap of fools. In addition, it is not a good thing to look back to the past thinking how the “good ole days” were. We have often said that if we are chained to our past we cannot move into our future. This is the meaning regarding the words God inspired Solomon to speak about the old days. Then he goes on to speak of the benefit of wisdom which is an inheritance, what is ahead, the rest of life. Wisdom is a benefit for us that are alive, or see the sun. It could be a play on words about the sun, if we were to spell it “Son”. The Hebrew means to be brilliant, as the sun, or we could see it as the brilliance of God. Nevertheless the idea is wisdom looks to the future, not the past, it is a shelter, as wealth is a form of shelter. However, as Solomon has said many times already about the foolishness of trying to make wealth our shelter, he goes on to say that wisdom is what is going to preserve our life. The wise man puts his trust in God, the fool in wealth. Let us put an end to foolishness and live with wisdom, thus preserving life.

Which is Better

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

WHICH IS BETTER

Eccl 7:1-6

7:1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. 5 It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. 6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.

NIV

Once again Solomon makes some comparisons between several things, such as life and death, a wise man and a foolish man, and sorrow and laughter, mourning and feasting. There are more but let us take a look at each one as they are spoken. There is something to be said about having a good name, although we are not very interested in fine perfume. However in the day of Solomon as even during the life of Jesus fine perfume was a very expensive commodity. When Mary poured perfume on Jesus, even his disciples were indignant because they said it could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor. That was a big deal, very expensive stuff. So a good name is better than all the money it costs to buy that expensive perfume. A good name means we mean what we say, our name is our word. People either know we always speak the truth or they don’t. It is not good to be known as having a bad name, or people to think badly about us. Why would the day of death be better than the day of life? We celebrate life usually a lot more than death.  When someone dies, we usually mourn, or go to the house of mourning. When someone is born we usually have a party of sorts, we go to the house of feasting. So then why does Solomon think the opposite is better, to mourn because of a birth and feast because of a death? Is this from a human perspective or a divine one? Certainly God is the giver of life. Yet as a believer we might think death, at least the death of this body, would be better than being born. We are not certain we would like to live all our life all over again, starting at birth. But the day we step into eternity should be a day of rejoicing. We all are going to die. There is not one person alive, not one person who has been born that is going to not die. Death is inevitable, there is nothing we can do to escape it. It will claim every person. So then, during these few moments of life, we should take to heart the destiny that awaits us, death. Are we going to go down to the grave, or are we going to rise to meet the Lord. The choice seems simple enough yet many have decided to live for all they can get in life and refuse to accept what death brings, or just don’t care. Some who do not believe in God, or heaven and hell, could not care less about what happens after death, so live it up, make merry, feast away while they can. The rest of this saying is about the fool and the wise. It is a wise thing, it is true wisdom to see the truth of God and that he is the only hope for life after death. Sorrow is better than laughter. That is the idea that thinking with wisdom about eternal matters is far better than the fools who simply live for the temporary pleasures of this short life. No, we will not listen to the song of the fool, we will listen to the word of God. Their lot, their destiny is so horrible to even think about. Yet we should in the sense that we have a new song they could sing, if only they heard it. If we remain silent and do not sing the new song, the music of God, they cannot hear it and if they do not hear, they cannot believe. So let us sing our song, the song of the Lord, let us spread his song wherever we go. That is living with wisdom, rather than with foolishness. This is better.

He Is

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

HE IS

Eccl 6:7-12

7 All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. 8 What advantage has a wise man over a fool? What does a poor man gain by knowing how to conduct himself before others? 9 Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 10 Whatever exists has already been named, and what man is has been known; no man can contend with one who is stronger than he. 11 The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone? 12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?

NIV

It is sort of sad as to how Solomon sees the life of a man, but again he is looking at man from man’s point of view. God has a totally different view of man, than Solomon has. Yet Solomon is inspired by God to write these words about the futility of the man who lives for himself. This is the idea of all his efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. The point is about all living for self and self always needs more. When we live and put all our efforts into satisfying our own wants, we never have enough, and it does not matter if a person is wise or foolish, the result is the same. Rich or poor, wise or foolish, if driven by greed, neither are ever satisfied. It is better to be content with what we can see, what we have, then to always have roving eyes, always looking to the more we can have, always trying to fulfill our craving for more. It is sort of like the craving for a White Castle, one is just not enough. But alas all that type of lifestyle is just a chasing after the wind. It is meaningless, or as in the Hebrew, vanity. We are not sure about the rest of this section. What does it mean that whatever exists has already been named and what man is has been known? We think it has to be seen in light of the next few words about no man can contend with one who is stronger than he. This stronger one would have to be God. What man can contend with God? God knew everything before he created man. He knew Adam before he formed him. Everything regarding man, God has already known, which would include us. He knew every, all the days of our life, before we were born. How can we contend with that? How can we judge that as the direct meaning of the Hebrew implies? How do we rightly determine, judge, the idea that God is. He has no past, or future, he just is. He has no beginning, no end, he just is. He has always been and will always be, he just is. Is denotes present tense, he is always in the present, thus he knows before what we think before we think it. It would not matter how many words we could write. Whole books have been written about the omnipresence of God and yet they have less meaning then those two words, he is. No man can tell the future, most certainly his own. Only God knows what will happen in our life. We can make all our plans and they might be meaningless, as God has something else in store for us. How vain to think we have our life all planned out accordingly as if we are the masters of our own course. Do we think God just sits up there and waits to see what we try to do? He already knows what we will try to do, he ordained our life, and he is the master of our life. If he even stops thinking about us, poof, we don’t exist anymore. We actually have no clue what life will bring our way, and we have no clue what will happen in the life of others after we are gone. No one can predict anything will happen, not even the next day, or for that matter the next hour. Sure, the weather people might be able to predict it will rain in the next hour or so, but then they could be wrong, it has happened. But we are talking about our life. We don’t even know if we will be alive tomorrow, much less what will happen during the day. Sure we know we are supposed to go to work, and what that work consists of. But do we know we will get there? Anything could happen which interrupts what we think we will do the next day, or the next hour. But God knows because he is. So we need to live with the “I AM” as our main source of everything, our daily life, our whole life, for simply put, He is.

To Enjoy or Not to Enjoy

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

TO ENJOY OR NOT TO ENJOY

Eccl 6:1-6

6:1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: 2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

NIV

It seems Solomon is inspired to write a whole lot of about wealth and its result upon a man. Again, we need to remember he is the wisest and the riches man to every live. He also seems to be a man who knows God quite well, who sought God out in prayer. But he is writing from this human perspective, man simply living as man in the world and living by the standard of the world. However, he does see what man has is a gift of God, such as he speaks here about God being the one who gives man wealth. Some men would say their wealth is because of their smarts, their efforts, their wisdom in managing their portfolio, their investments. But that is not the case, for God is specific in this matter. He is the one who gives man wisdom, wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires. But there is a catch. God does not enable him to enjoy them. The Hebrew carries the meaning of permit to enjoy or the power or dominion over them.  Solomon says it is a grievous evil. God does not do evil. But it is an evil thing for man to have all those desires and get everything and not get to enjoy them, but to leave them behind so a stranger enjoys them. Again this is all about making that wealth and possession and honor the central focus of life. Even among us Christians, we can have this same problem. We can get catch up in the world’s ways of wanting wealth and possessions and even honor. Do we not want people to think highly of us? Do we not want to be seen as upright holy, spiritually righteous believers in Christ? Do we not want people to think we know our bible, quoting verses as if we have it all memorized. Do we not get all dressed up for the benefit of looking good to others? Then this whole idea of either writing checks, or having our giving recorded so somebody knows how much we give, is it not all about seeking honor? Some churches give special honor to the big givers. We have seen it happen. Again God inspires Solomon to consider the matter of a man living many years, having many children, being blessed beyond measure by God and still no matter how long he lives he cannot enjoy all he has, and he does not get a proper burial. What does that mean? What is a proper burial? We all get put in the ground, somehow. Well some get cremated and their ashes either get kept on the mantel or thrown to the winds or in the sea. Nevertheless the man’s life is over and if he spent it all in the pursuit of increasing his wealth, making it his focus, his idol, then God says he is worst off then a stillborn child. Although a stillborn never sees life, the sun, it has more rest then this man who chases after wealth and never stops to smell the roses, never stops to enjoy his prosperity, he just keeps wanting more, never satisfied with what he has. How awful to live like that. What use is life if it is chasing after that which perishes? When we focus on God, when we live for Christ, we find true joy. God gives us a peace of mind, a restful spirit. He gives us contentment within, freeing us from anxiety, worry and stress about life. This is a life we can enjoy.

Gladness of Heart

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

GLADNESS OF HEART

Eccl 5:13-20

13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

Wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,   14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. 15 Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. 16 This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? 17 All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.

18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him — for this is his lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

NIV

Although we are very aware that many times the scripture speaks of the danger of chasing after wealth, here Solomon, under the inspiration of the Lord, says wealth is actually harmful to its owner. Why is that? What harm can there be in having some extra money? It may not be harmful to have a little extra, but it appears this is speaking to greed. The constant chasing after wealth, the hoarding of it, trying always to find ways to gain more. Some have chased after wealth to their death and to what gain? In the more modern times many have invested their money in an effort to gain more without laboring for it. This can also cause wealth lost through some misfortune. Although it is true the wealthy have a more personal possessions and far better and bigger than we have, they still leave it all behind as we do. It would also appear they enjoy life with all the trappings of wealth. What the point seems to be is that we cannot make wealth an idol for it is just good for the temporary span of life in the world. Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven. We have even struggled getting a tiny thread through the eye of a needle, and know it would be no harder, but impossible to get a camel through it. Sure, some have tried to make the case that Jesus was taking about some gate to the city which when closed only had a small opening one man at a time could still enter. But that is false teaching. Jesus meant the eye of a sewing needle, the Greek words bear that out. Wealth has its way of becoming the god of people and thus prohibit them from seeing the kingdom of God. That is harsh. But anything which becomes an idol replaces faith in God, especially wealth, because it is too easy to put our trust in wealth. So how should we live? First we have to seek first the kingdom of God above all else. There can be nothing worth as much as that. In all reality we are born naked with nothing and we leave naked, with nothing. Everything in between is vanity, meaningless, unless we are pursuing God. Solomon gives this advice to us about how to live with gladness of heart. First he tells those who chase after wealth they eat all the days of their lives in darkness, with great frustration affliction and anger. Wow, that is harsh, just because they wanted wealth instead of God. But for us we are to just enjoy each day, enjoy our labor, our jobs, and our work. Enjoy the food on our table and the drink in our mouths. We are to find satisfaction in our labor, it is a gift from God. Even for those who God does give wealth and possessions, and as a side note, in comparison to many people we are wealthy and have many possessions. True, there are a lot who have far more than we do, but still when we look around we have much to enjoy. Yet there is a difference. What do they reflect on and what do we reflect on? If we sit around reflecting on wealth and possession we see we need more and desire to increase our wealth and possession. We become occupied in the pursuit of more, we have to have enough to enjoy whatever we what now as well as enough to store up for later years. It becomes an obsession, it dominates our thinking, our reason to work. This is that danger which leads to the frustration, affliction and anger, eating in darkness. But, when God provides us with wealth and possession it is because we chose to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and so we do not have to sit and reflect on our wealth, we do not always look to our wealth for support, or trust in it because God keeps us occupied with gladness of heart.

A Sweet Night's Sleep

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

A SWEET NIGHT’S SLEEP

Eccl 5:10-12

10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

NIV

Although we ended with verse 10 yesterday, it really fits with the rest of these phrases. The idea of the goods increase and do they that consume them has to do with the everyday problems of business. Let’s say a wealthy man employees ten workers in his shop and produces one hundred items to sell. Because he wants more, he hires 10 more workers and now he has two hundred items to sell, but his expenses increased at the same rate so he has the same amount of profit, all he can do it just look at how big is shop is. He has gained nothing because his cost of goods sold has increased. It is just vanity that he wanted that bigger shop. But he keeps at it because he is never satisfied with what he had, never enough wealth. The workers go home and enjoy their evening, their family, and they get a good night’s sleep, all is well. No worries, no troubles about how the next day’s business will be. The abundance of the rich man keeps him up at night, he tosses and turns, concerned about his profit margins, how he can make them better, how can he gain more wealth. Does it sound like sour grapes because we have little wealth, and we are but the worker? How can it be sour grapes? We did not write these verses, Solomon did, under the inspiration of God. The Lord did not intent for man to be so consumed with wealth, that it becomes an idol, a mini god, a treasure of value, which is stored up or hoarded for some future needs. Those needs never come because they never have enough wealth, never have enough stored up. That is God’s thoughts, not ours. Maybe we should take heed to his thoughts. Maybe?  "Maybe" is a horrible idea. We should take heed of his thoughts. We are supposed to listen to God. So we go to work and enjoy our labor as we labor as if we labor for the Lord. We have enough, we get paid just the right amount and we trust in the Lord for all we have. He provides us with the right job, career, profession or position that he knows is best for us. We can go home without concern for the next day, without anxiety, without stress. Life is good living content in the Lord. Do we have enough? Absolutely, we have far more than many others and far less than many others. But what concern is that of ours, we need only be content with what we have. No envy, no jealously, no greed or lust for more is far better than the alternative. Always discontent with what we have, always looking for a way to get more. It is a vicious cycle, the more we have, the more we want, and that is not enough, so we want more and on and on it goes, until we die, and leave it all behind. Even if it is not money, we want the things it buys, we store up stuff. We have to rent places to store our stuff so we can go open the door once and a while and look at all our stuff. Sure, sometimes there is no other way to do it, but it is the same idea, how much do we want to store up? We need to see the Lord as the greatest treasure, the pearl of great price. He is the only one who can give us life. He is the only one we can find true joy and contentment, peace and security in. Nothing else really matters.  We live as he provides. We have what his hand gives. We have learned to be content in whatever situation in life we are in. We have learned to be content with much and with little, life is more than how much we have, how much we have to eat, how many clothes we have to wear, or what kind of house we have, or car we drive. Life is more than our position, our station, our profession, our title, or the amount of education we have, or degrees. Even if we have all of that, our life is about our relationship with the Lord. There is a gauge we can use to see how our life measures up.  What is our main focus? What do we spend the most of our thought life about? What do we spend the most of our energy on? Do we get a sweet night’s sleep?

The Treasure Hunt

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

THE TREASURE HUNT

Eccl 5:8-10

8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

NIV

If we think the government is actually caring for the poor, we are in for a big surprise. For the whole of mankind’s existence the rich and powerful have always oppressed the poor. It is the way of the world. Solomon saw that in his time, but we also have to remember this is the word of God. Solomon was inspired by God to write about this oppression of the poor by the official, and the official over him and the official over him. This is the definition of government. They always keep the poor oppressed for the benefit of power over them, always promising to give them everything, but giving them nothing, no justice and no rights. God has seen this from the beginning of man’s interaction with other men, even between the first two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain did not give Abel justice and he denied him his rights, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Well that did not come to thousands of years later in a land far away from the field of blood in Cain’s time. But the point is the same, one man oppresses the other for his own personal benefit. This increase in the land being taken by all expresses the idea that individual profit does not exist, as it has to be shared with everyone else. Again a definition of government, especially in our post-modern era in this land. The redistribution  of wealth has become the motto or mantra as of late, with the promise of free everything for all, except those who are the officials and the officials over them, for they take everything and as much as possible for themselves at the expense of others. This idea of never having enough money has been a curse on mankind by the devil himself. Everything of late is about how much money do we have. Radio ads are full of money managers, or sellers of gold. “What does your portfolio look like” “Will you have enough to live the good life in your retirement?” It is all about sowing the seeds of discontentment for the profit of those either selling their services or their gold. This whole idea just creates more greed, more of wanting more and more, never being satisfied. The world’s way is all haywire, upside down, designed to drive men mad for money, power and sensual pleasures. We have seen it over and over again. Those in power abuse it for their pleasure and they have an insatiable appetite for more, never able to satisfy their need for more money, which allows them more power and the ability to oppress the poor even more. Everything is topsy-turvey, a world of turmoil. This is also meaningless, or as the Hebrew word means full of vanity. It means nothing. It has no real value. This is not the design of God and we who believe should not be partakers in this insanity. Although we have to live within the world we are not to be of this world. We are not to allow vanity, greed, and the love of money to influence how we live. When the question of why do we exist is asked, who of the greedy will answer correctly? Let us live to please the Lord, the giver of true life, where we find what is of true value. Where our treasure is there also will our heart be. Where is our treasure?