Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 Don’t Take Anything for Granted
“A good reputation is better than a fat bank account. Your death date tells more than your birth date. You learn more at a funeral than at a feast—After all, that’s where we’ll end up. We might discover something from it.”
Psalm 90 tells us “So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” By the time Moses wrote these words, he had likely herded sheep for 40 years and had then led the Israelites for nearly 40 years as well. There must have been many times when Moses longed to be back with the sheep where the only thing they could say was “BAAAA!” The Israelites were a quarrelsome and whiny bunch, and anytime we feel we are special to God, we should remember that the Israelites were God’s chosen people and yet they behaved abominably!
Some people have pointed out that our lives occur between parentheses, for example, (….-….) What are we doing with the lives we live from birth to death? Are we living them for God of for something less? What can we learn from funerals? There are no bank trucks following hearses. Someone was watching a funeral procession for a rich man pass by and asked another onlooker “What did that fellow leave?” The second man replied, “He left all of it.” There’s a song called “Oh may those who come behind us find us faithful.” Faithfulness to God brings peace to everyone-peace to you while you live and peace to your friends and loved ones when you die.
“3-5: Crying is better than laughing. It blotches the face but it scours the heart. Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving. Fools waste their lives in fun and games. You’ll get more from the rebuke of a sage than from the song and dance of fools.” We might laugh for all kinds of reasons, but when we cry, we divest ourselves of pretense-that is, unless you are an extremely skilled actor or actress. We are far more likely to face our shortcomings when we are grieving than when we are rejoicing. God uses our grief to bring us to repentance.
There’s also another aspect of these verses. How can we “invest ourselves in hurt and grieving” without being morbid? We can pray for others! My Facebook feeds give me lots of reasons for prayer. There are missing children, cancer patients and those recovering from tragic accidents, those grieving the loss of friends, relatives, or beloved pets. I don’t have to know those people to pray for them, for God knows all the details. I pray for these people to be healed, comforted, and strengthened, to enjoy the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control-Galatians 5:22-23.)
When traveling, I pray for the towns through which I pass, that God will sovereignly move, sending revival throughout those communities. I pray for street venders pushing carts with their wares, that God will protect them from harm and danger and that they will sell everything so they can support themselves. Prayer is an amazing thing; the more you pray, the more subjects you find for prayer.
6-7 “The giggles of fools are like the crackling of twigs under the cooking pot. And like smoke. Brutality stupefies even the wise and destroys the strongest heart.” Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” When computers first became popular in the 1980’s, the phrase GIGO also came in. GIGO stands for “Garbage in, garbage out.” Computers are only as good as the people who program them and they can mislead if fed wrong information. Foolishness and brutality can warp our minds and our hearts if we feed on violent video games, movies, and violent podcasts. Truly, “brutality stupefies even the wise and destroys the strongest heart.”
8-9 “Endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out. Don’t be quick to fly off the handle. Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.”
I grew up near a town that was so small that everybody knew everyone else’s business. The guys down at the feed mill could tell you which men were reliable workers and which men would go to the end of the field and loaf where nobody could see them. As for anger, we had one local farmer who was so angry and impatient that he couldn’t take the time to disengage the power takeoff on the tractor before trying to clean corn husks out of the snapping rolls. (This was in the days of corn pickers mounted on tractors. With the power takeoff engaged, you could lose a hand or even an arm!) Sadly, this man paid for his anger and his impatience by being so severely injured that he had to retire from farming.
10 “Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.” Fixating your attentions on some mythical time past when things were allegedly perfect wastes energy and depresses you. We envelop our childhood memories in a rosy glow, little realizing that our parents were shielding us from harsh realities. Looking back, I realize that my mother baked bread, made butter, and sewed my school clothes to save money, not because she was simply rising trying to be Susie Homemaker.
11-12 “Wisdom is better when it’s paired with money, especially if you get both while you’re still living. Double protection: wisdom and wealth! Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.” Wisdom that does not energize is merely wishful thinking, no matter how wise it might seem. Wisdom is more important than money, for if you are wise, you can manage small amounts of money correctly, while if you are foolish, money will slip through your fingers.
13 “Take a good look at God’s work. Who could simplify and reduce Creation’s curves and angles to a plain straight line?” Psalm 8:3-4 tells us, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” God is the Supreme Creator and is constantly doing new things. We can only examine and copy what God is already doing. Many times, architects and inventors have looked to nature for design inspiration. Simple example: Velcro was inspired by seeds from weeds that had hooks allowing the seeds to cling to clothing or to the fur of animals.
14 “On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted.” Who wants bad days? When faced with difficult times, most of us are far more ready to whine than to learn or to examine ourselves. We blindly assume that God’s will and ours are identical; meanwhile, the reverse might be the case. Suffering is the last thing any of us would choose; yet, God uses suffering to perfect us.
Tomorrow we will continue with this chapter, but for today, the question remains: How are you investing the time represented by your parentheses, the time between birth and death? Once more, we must pray with Moses, “So teach us to number our days, that we might gain hearts of wisdom.” Guard your hearts!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to be faithful stewards of the lives You have given us. Help us to gain hearts of wisdom. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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