Tag: wise

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Ecclesiastes Devotionals

Why is this happening to me?

Ecclesiastes

Let’s be honest. This passage has some difficult things to understand in it. I have read different commentators talk about this passage, and many times, they are saying completely different things.

Take for example,

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them. (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

What does it mean, “Don’t be excessively righteous”?

And what does it mean, “Don’t be excessively wicked”?

Is Solomon saying that as long as we don’t sin too much, it’s okay to sin from time to time?

Probably not, considering that he talks about the one who “fears God” holding to both truths.

So what does Solomon mean then?

In verse 12, he talks about how wisdom is a protection for us.

But then he says this does not mean that if we are wise, nothing bad will happen to us.

God of course does bless us. But there are times when he allows us to go through trials too. There are times when good people perish. And there are times when bad people prosper. (13-15)

That said, Solomon points out in verse 20 that no one is truly righteous. All of us sin.

So there is no one that can honestly say, “Why is this happening? I’ve never done anything wrong.”

How often, for example, do we point out others’ sins while failing to see we’re guilty of the exact same things? (21-22)

What Solomon probably means then is, “Don’t see yourself as so righteous that you think you should never go through trials or suffering.”

There is no one that righteous.

On the other hand, just because you sometimes see good people suffer and evil people prosper is no reason to start sinning wildly. That will certainly lead to death. (Romans 6:23)

What does it mean not to be overly wise? Solomon probably means that we shouldn’t think we are wise enough to figure out all the reasons for evil in this world.

Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived apart from Jesus and he couldn’t figure it out.

He studied people both men and women. He never did find a woman he could completely figure out. And he didn’t have much more success with men. The only thing he ever did conclude is that we are all people tainted by sin. (23-29)

We can break our brain and potentially destroy our faith trying to figure out all the reasons for evil in the world.

Job’s friends thought they had all the answers. And all they earned for their “wisdom” was God’s rebuke.

So let us avoid both those ways of thinking. Instead, let us humble ourselves before God, trusting he is good, and continuing to follow him no matter what.

And if we do, like Job, we will find out that he is indeed good. (Job 42)

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Proverbs

Living with a fool, living like a fool.

In these two chapters, we see how we should deal with fools, and how to avoid acting like one. 

In this passage, the Hebrew word that is used for “fool” means a person who is stupid and arrogant.  They insist on their own opinions and will not accept correction.

How do we deal with such people?  Solomon tells us in verses 4-5.  I like the NASB here because it’s a bit clearer than the NIV.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him. 

Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.  (Proverbs 26:4-5)

In other words, don’t get involved in shouting matches with a fool, because in most cases, they still won’t listen, and you just lower themselves to their level. 

On the other hand, do answer their arguments, but do so with wisdom, and with gentleness and respect.  By doing so, it may be possible to show them the error of their ways. 

But if they refuse to listen, and things start getting heated, don’t waste your breath any longer.  For as Solomon writes,

Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him. (Proverbs 27:22)

Also, while we are to love them, we are not to put our trust in them, whether it’s in listening to their advice (26:7, 9) or in giving them responsibility for a task (26:10).

How do we avoid becoming fools or acting like them?

Learn from your mistakes.  Be open to correction. 

As Solomon writes,

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.  (Proverbs 26:11)

So many people just never learn from their mistakes.  And as a result, they find themselves in the same kind of trouble time and again.

Be humble.  Understand that you don’t know everything, so be open to correction.  Solomon tells us as much, saying,

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?  There is more hope for a fool than for him.  (Proverbs 26:12)

Also realize that God holds your future.  So be humble and lay your plans before him.  (Proverbs 27:1)

Don’t be lazy.  (26:13-16) 

This is a consistent theme throughout the Proverbs.  Look to your future, by taking care of your responsibilities in the present.  (27:23-27)

Avoid disputes in which you have no reason to stick your nose in. (26:17) 

All you accomplish when you do so, is to get people even more upset and to turn on you.

Watch your words. 

Don’t lie (26:18, 28).  

Don’t gossip (26:20). 

And don’t be a person that’s constantly looking for a fight (26:21; 27:15-16). 

Rather be a person that looks to bring peace to relationships.

Look beyond others’ words to their character.  (26:23-26) 

Some people have tongues that could charm you into doing anything.  But look beyond their words, and test their character.  Know the kind of person you are dealing with.

Be aware that when you make plots against people, your plans often turn back on you.  (26:27) 

Haman found this out when he plotted to kill the Jews in the book of Esther.

Pay attention to warning signs in your life.  (27:12). 

When you get the sense your life is going in the wrong direction, whether in your marriage, in your job, or whatever it may be, stop. 

Start going in a different direction. If you don’t, it could cost you everything.

Be considerate of your neighbors.  (27:14) 

Even if you’re well-intentioned, you can sour your relationships if you don’t consider when and how you try to bless them.

How about you?  Are you living wisely?  Or like a fool?

Categories
Proverbs

What kind of name do you have?

Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?”  Quite a lot actually.

Solomon wrote,

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.  (Proverbs 10:7)

When people hear the name Hitler, for example, there is immediate loathing.  I doubt there are many, if any parents, willing to give their child that name. 

But when people hear Biblical names like Jacob, or Noah, or Abigail, or Elizabeth, they all have positive images of them.  In fact, all four were among the top names for babies in the U.S. last year.

What kind of name do you have?  A lot of it will have to do with the life that you live here on earth.

Solomon wrote,

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.  (Proverbs 10:1)

What is a wise person?

  • It’s a person who is diligent and works hard.  (4-5).
  • It’s a person who is willing to accept authority, and as we mentioned yesterday, to accept correction.  (8, 17)
  • It’s a person who walks in integrity (9).
  • It’s a person who is willing to overlook an offense and to forgive.  (12).
  • It’s a person from whose mouth flows life  (11).

Who speaks wisdom (13, 31), who knows when to speak and when to keep it shut (19,32), and whose words nourish others (21). 

Or as Paul once put it, whose words correct, rebuke, encourage, and teach (II Timothy 4:2).

What kind of person has a name which rots?

  • It’s someone who is lazy (4-5, 26).
  • It’s someone who refuses to take correction, and thus lacks judgment, and even leads others down the path he is going. (8, 13, 17).
  • It’s someone who holds hatred in their heart and allows it to affect his relationships (11-12).
  • It’s someone who has no guard on his mouth, and hurts those around him, and even himself. (8, 14, 19-21)

What kind of person are you?  When people see you, what do they see?  And when you are gone, what will they remember?

Will you leave behind a name that blesses those who remember you? 

Or will you leave behind a name that rots?