Stand in Awe

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

STAND IN AWE

Eccl 5:1-7

5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.4 when you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

NIV

In our relationship with the Lord we should not be too casual as what seems to be the case in this post-modern era. It seems some churches have made worship into a big show, sparing no expense to entertain the crowd or try to create an emotional response, or a rounding applause for a job well done. The other noticeable offense within the sanctuary of God is this busy-bodied loud chatter of noise rather than a guarded step and an ear to listen. Is this not the sanctuary where we come to meet with the living God? Have we prepared our heart to worship or are we too busy chatting away about some dumb subject that has nothing to do with God? Are we not to come to offer our bodies as living sacrifices which is our acceptable form of spiritual worship? We should guard of steps when we go to the house of God. We should be in an attitude of praise and worship before and as we enter the sanctuary prepared to meet with the living God and not be like the fool who does not know how wrong he is. In our relationship with God let us not be the chitty chatter of all times. We do no need to pray as though we are on parade to show everyone how spiritual we are with all the right words. We should not be quick to speak to God, or hasty to utter anything before him. So often we run off with our mouth before engaging our brain. Although we are supposed to see God on this intimate personal level as loving us so much, we should also remember, as Solomon puts it, we are on earth, God is in heaven. He is so far superior to anything or anyone. He is so smart, we are so dumb. He knows everything, we know nothing. He is God, the creator of all that is created. We are the created and we should know our place in this creation, his children. What child tells their parent what to do? What obedient child does whatever they want to do, without the parental consent? Aha, at last the truth comes out. We are not an obedient child. Let us not promise God we will do everything he says, and then break that promise. How wrong is that? No, let us just strive to do his bidding, not making excuses for failure, or promising to do better. Let us not allow our mouth to lead us into sin by promising God we will do better when we know in our heart we cannot. We should not say we are anything but a sinner saved by grace. We simply cannot be good enough. We cannot be pure enough, nor can we be obedient enough. We need to stop trying to fool ourselves because we are not fooling God. All we can do is stand in awe of him. All our words, our actions, our lists of do’s and don’ts, all our good deeds, all our efforts to be this perfect bundle of spiritual flesh is meaningless in light of his holiness, his perfection, and his majesty. What we are left with is to stand in awe of him.  

A Gift

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

A GIFT

Eccl 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

NIV

This could be the continuation of the preceding verses about the man who is all alone and has no son to leave his wealth to, or it could strike a new cord altogether. If this were about business, it would have to mean that one could never  be a single owner of a business, that we all would have to be partners with someone. But it makes more sense when seen as another type of partnership, marriage. Although societies have always seemed to have two men who lie down together, it would seem Solomon is not making reference to the gay lifestyle, but rather marriage, considering he had some seven hundred women either as wives or concubines. He was definitely into women, and so the two that lie down together would be a man and a women, to keep each other warm. Then all the rest would apply as well to a man and a women who work together for the common good of the both. It bodes well for a couple to be on the same page, working for the same goals, as serving the Lord, rearing the children in the ways of the Lord, and having the same direction in life. When one is down, which can mean many things, down physically, hurt, ill, or down emotionally, having a bad day, or down spiritually, the other is there to lift them up. When a person is alone, without a God-given mate, who then would be there for them? They are alone. This is not the plan of God for either the man or the women. God designed Adam and that he needed Eve. Eve could not live without Adam as she was from his flesh. The two are one, it is meant to be, just as God is one, although he is three in one, like a three stranded cord that cannot be broken. We are also this three stranded cord, God, man and woman. When we are this three stranded cord, life cannot be broken, it is all held together in Christ. There is much in the New Testament about the relationship within a family of a man, woman and the children it makes sense God had this all planned from the beginning. We were not designed to be alone.  It is sad when that partnership comes to a close and we find ourselves once again alone, but not totally for we have the Lord to comfort us. However, that is life and we should be aware of how precious our spouse is, a gift from God.  

Living with Meaning

DEVOTION

ELLCESIASTES

LIVING WITH MEANING

Eccl 4:5-8

5 The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. 6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. 7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: 8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless — a miserable business!

NIV

Although there is warnings about chasing after wealth, making it an idol of sorts, there is also a grave danger in being a slothful person. This person just folds his hands and does nothing for himself and it is to his own ruin. He who does not work should not eat.

2 Thess 3:10-12

10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." 11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

NIV

Working for our sustenance is scriptural and Solomon is making that point about the slothful person coming to ruin. On the other hand there is a second person who is content with little and living in peace compared to the one who labors diligently to obtain as much as possible, the one handed worker, and the two fisted worker. The idea Solomon seems to be making is to learn to be content living in peace with a fair income, then have so much wealth the oppressors are after you all the time to try to take your wealth away, or that this chasing, this two-fisted approach to life, trying to gain as much as possible never brings peace, or tranquility, but only discontentment. Solomon also makes note of the man who is all alone and has no one to share his life or his wealth with. This too is meaningless for he has no one to leave his wealth to. He toils and toils, and stores up wealth and more wealth and is all alone. He has no wife, no son, no heirs at all so then he becomes despondent and figures he might as well spend all his money on himself. He cannot understand why he is depriving himself so he does not anymore. Solomon says that is a miserable way to live. So then how should we live? How do we find tranquility and enjoyment at the same time? Living in community, living with family, working and being content with a fair wage, enough to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads. Yes, we all want a little more than that. If we seek the Lord and his kingdom first, making that our main priority in life, then he will see to it we have that little more, that which the pagans chase after. The good life, it not having all the money in the world. The good life is having Christ in our heart, living out the purpose God has for us. In essence we can live for self or for God. When we live for self, everything is about how much we have, how much we do in life. Just take a look at one of those social media platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram etc. Way too many posts and pictures about self-absorbed people bragging about how much fun they have or what new thing there got, or how many trips they take. They even tell us when they sneeze. LOL. Then of course there are those who always tell us of every cough, sickness, or infirmity they have. Life is more about self, always about self. This is meaningless.  Life is about living in peace with God, doing his bidding, living out our faith through our actions, our words, and our love.  This kind of life has meaning.

Oppressed or Comforted

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

OPPRESSED OR COMFORTED

Eccl 4:1-4

4:1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed — and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors — and they have no comforter. 2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. 4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

NIV

Certainly Solomon is aware of the awesome power of God, he is the son of King David. He grew up hearing his Father sing his psalms and he prayed to God for a discerning heart. God answered him telling him yes, he would get that discerning heart, in fact he would be the wisest man to every live and he would be the wealthiest as well. So when he speaks like this, it is not from his personal perspective or knowledge of God, but from the view of an ordinary sinner, who has yet to meet God, or knows of God but refuses to acknowledge him. This is the kind of man who is filled with tears because he is oppressed and has no comforter. They could always come to God and he would comfort them, but no they choose to live under the power of the oppressors. In this case that would be Satan and his demons. They oppress, they cause the tears, maybe not actual tears in the eyes, but rather tears in the heart. They may think they are happy, but Solomon declares the dead are happier then those who live as the oppressed. Yet Solomon says that the unborn are happier than both the dead and the living because they have not seen the evil that is in the world. This idea is that those who are yet to be born still have the opportunity to live under the power of God, in fact they may still be in the presence of God. That is a strange thought, but if God knit us together in our mother’s womb and he is always in the present tense, then he knew us before we were born.

Jer 1:4-5

4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

NIV

So, did we exist before we were formed in our mother’s womb, or has God always known who we were going to be? If, once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and become an eternal being, were we one before we were born into this mortal being? Interesting to ponder, but the point it looks like Solomon is making is that living under the power of the oppressor is the worst of all ways to live. He certainly does not, but understands because of his wisdom, what it would be like to be the oppressed. However, even living as the oppressed, does not mean living in poverty or ignorance. In fact, man achieves many things which would be considered great. But Solomon says that all man’s achievements stem from his envy of his neighbor. We are forever trying to keep up with the Jones, so to speak. Even in our conversations we try to outdo what the other said they did or felt, or understood. This “one upmenship” seems to be a driving force that is influenced by the oppressor. For the man or woman of God puts others ahead of themselves. We lift each other up, we build each other up. We do not think more of ourselves as we should. The Scripture is full of examples of how we are to live under the power of God. We are to serve rather than to be served. There is no envy, no jealously nor greed in the life of a believer, as least there should not be. So we tell this oppressor, “get thee behind me” and we live for Christ and are comforted.

Rise Again

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

RISE AGAIN

Eccl 3:15-22

15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.   16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment — wickedness was there, in the place of justice — wickedness was there.

17 I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed."

18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

NIV

It sounds a little confusing about what is already been what we will has been before and God calling the past to account. What is seems to be saying is the past, present and future are all connected and all under the control of God. Everyone is going to stand before God and be called to account for every deed. Now that presents us with a problem. What deeds are we going to be held accountable for? Both the wicked and the righteous will be there. So the wicked live their lives outside of Christ and we live our lives inside of Christ. So their sins are not forgiven, but ours are.

Luke 5:22-24

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ."

NIV

1 John 2:12

12 I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

NIV

That fact is God will not judge the righteous for any sin. We will not have to give an account for everything we failed him, or failed to be perfect, yielding to some temptation. The fact is we will never be completely free of every sin, for we are still human and not divine. Some might think they do not sin, but then that is a sin for it is prideful and also lying or being deceitful. David was prophetic in his words which Paul echoed.

Rom 4:7-8

7 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."  

NIV

It just does not get any planner than that. So then when we stand before God, we will all be judged by one deed. Did you trust Jesus, or not? Did you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or not? God says that those who are in Jesus are considered righteous and therefor enter in. Those of you who rejected my Son, every sin is counted against you and therefore are cast into the lake of burning sulfur. We are either in or out, based on our deed. This saying of Solomon about man and animal having the same fate regarding all having breathe and all having the same fate is another somewhat confusing thought. Solomon is not sure if the spirit of man rises after death. Again, he is looking at life from the human perspective. The meaningless of life is that is all there is, man and animal all being on the same level. No Spirit to live on forever. Death is the end of life and back to the dust to go, never to ever know we ever were. But then why would we all be standing before God to be judged? Solomon is making the difference between seeing things in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm. The fact is our spirit does depart at the death of the body. We know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

2 Cor 5:6-10

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

NIV

There is it again, we will live after death and be in the presence of the Lord and be judged if we did the good, accepting Jesus, or the bad, rejecting Jesus. So we will rise again. We are not like the animals, we are man, created in the image of God, an eternal being, and because we are in Christ we too will be eternal beings living in the kingdom of God for ever and ever. We are the righteous who live by faith. That “live” is not just in this life, but is “live forever”. We may go to the dust, but we will rise again.

Toil

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

TOIL

Eccl 3:9-14

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

NIV

We should include the rest of this chapter as it is the continuation of this thought, but there is enough here for us to ponder on.  To work has been the burden God placed on man because of the disobedience of Adam. When he cast him out of the Garden of Eden he told him that he would have to work all the days of his life.

Gen 3:17-19

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

NIV

There is also more in this which Solomon will draw on in the next few of his statements we will get to. But there is the burden. We have to work, painful toil, all the days of our life until we die and are put back in the ground from which we, man, came from. Was that just for Adam, and the rest of us are not subject to that burden? Because we are descendants of Adam, born in sin in need of redemption, we are subject to the law of God in this regard. It has become through the sinful mind of man that he determined a way to circumvent this burden. Instead of working by the sweat of his brow all the days of his life for his food, he chose to store up as much wealth as he can and then quite his toil, and sit back, get old, doing nothing until he dies and returns to the ground. Then, like Solomon has already noted, all he toiled for is left for someone else to spend, and he does the same thing and the cycle keeps going. But the fact remains we are to toil all the days of our life just because that is what we are to do. But then what do we gain by it? God has given the gift of finding satisfaction in our work. To be content in our work and in the food on our table, and the roof over our head. But also, we have to know that he set the idea of himself, the idea of eternity into the heart of man, into our heart. Man toils and in doing so, without the knowledge of eternity, toils for nothing for it all will end in nothing, just returning to the dust. From the human prescriptive, which Solomon is pondering the only thing man can do is be happy his life. But then God has established everything from the beginning and will sustain everything until the end. He is the Alpha and Omega. Man cannot add to that which God did or does, and man cannot take away anything God has done, is doing and will do. If we can comes to terms with this, then we will revere him. We will come to the realization that we are man and he is God, our creator and redeemer, our Lord and Savior. Then true joy, happiness fills our heart and our toil is not burdensome.

Enough Time

DEVOTION

ECCLESIASTES

ENOUGH TIME

Eccl 3:1-8

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

NIV

Clearly this is one of the more famous sayings of Solomon. There is a time who everything, a season for every activity under the sun. Why? Do we have to wait for just the right moment? In the case of birth and death, it does not seem that is up to us. We have not control of either of those seasons. Just recently we heard of a man suing his parents because they gave birth to him without his permission, against his will. Who knows when we are born and when we are to die? Only the Lord. The rest of these pairs of contrasting activities we have some say as to whether we engage in them or not. It does seem some are activities of everyday life, while others would have to be a choice. The idea of either killing or healing and loving or hating are most certainly choices we would have to make or should not make. It would never be right to kill or hate, in fact Jesus says it we hate in our heart, and then we are killing. The rest we have would think are a normal daily lifecycle. It does make us think how crazy life can be. There is a range of emotions and activities which we engage in over the course of our lives. Although we are doubtful about the time to keep and a time to throw away. We just can’t seem to throw anything away, we would much rather keep everything, the material things we have, as well as the way things are, that is how our life is. Don’t even change the furniture please. Why get a new one, the old one works fine. But the point is that there is a cycle to our life and we have better get used to it as that is how God designed how life for his creation is. Although it may not have been his choice for us to die, Adam made that choice for all of us, but God made the choice we should live, rather than die. He overrides that choice of Adam, through Jesus. Now, if we are in Christ there is no longer a season to die. If fact, in Christ there may not be a season to uproot, kill, tear down, weep, mourn, scatter, refrain, give up, throw away, and tear, to be silent, hate, or be at war, especially with God. Maybe there is just enough of the right time.