Wisdom to be gained from King Solomon and the book of Ecclesiastes. :)
Ecc. 1
"I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my [n]mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is [o]a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is [p]vanity and striving after wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I [q]said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my [r]mind has observed [s]a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my [t]mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain."
That is funny. I have prayed many times that God would give me wisdom and I concur with Solomon here when he says that with "much wisdom there is much grief." The more you know, the harder life is. The more pain and suffering you see, the more you come to realize that "it is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men." Just existing is hard often times. Life is never what we hope it will be. We think certain things on this earth will fulfill us and they never do. We live most of life confused, discontent and lost.
But that is because we live in a fallen world. This is not our final home. We don't belong here. But one day all will be as it should be, again. :) One day God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more pain or mourning. Amen? Amen. :)
Ecc. 2
"For what does a man get in all his labor and in [q]his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his [r]mind does not rest. This too is vanity."
This is the burden of some who work, they never stop thinking about work. Some have trouble sleeping because they cannot turn their minds off. They are used to running at hyper speed all day and then cannot slow down when they need to. But as Solomon says, what is the point of letting work control you like this, when you can't take anything with you that you earn when you die.
"There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? 26 For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight."
This is interesting, since often it seems to be the other way around. The evil prosper while the good have less, but it is all a matter of perspective. As Solomon says, what good is it to have more if you cannot enjoy what you have? He says the goal of life is really just to eat and drink and try to be happy with the work you do. Work is good, since it gives us a sense of purpose for life, but it's important what kind of work we pick. Picking a career for money is never a good idea. It is better to pick one where we think we are making a difference and helping people etc. Then we will find meaning to our lives. :)
Ecc. 3
12 "I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God."
This is key. God gives us the gift of contentment and joy. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace....etc. We cannot know true fulfillment apart from knowing God. We will not see our purpose for living unless we know God.
Ecc. 4
"Behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. 2 So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. 3 But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun."
lol I always thought that was a funny thing to say, and quite depressing. But it is true that those in heaven now and way happier than we are here on earth.
"I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind."
Yes it is. :)
"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up."
Very true. I have never lived alone, for a long time at least. I have always had someone there, which has been nice. I have been very much blessed in that I suppose. Because one, is the loneliest number. :( Yep.
Ecc. 5
"Do not be hasty [c]in word or [d]impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. 3 For the dream comes through much [e]effort and the voice of a fool through many words."
lol A good argument against having lengthy prayers. Also Jesus says the hypocrites pray using many words thinking they will be heard better that way. But we are to stand in awe of God rather than give him a list of things we think he needs to do etc.
"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is [n]vanity."
Amen. Very true.
Ecc. 6
"All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied."
Yes I have always found this fact annoying, the process of eating but never getting full, and always having to eat again. I have always said if I could just take a pill that would fill me for the day I would. Eating is so annoying often times, unless I am eating ice cream lol then it is fun. :)
Ecc. 7
"A good name is better than a good ointment,
And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth."
lol That is funny too. :)
"It is better to go to a house of mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man,
And the living takes it to heart."
I always thought was interesting. But it is true. Our modern "house of feasting" would be clubs etc. and only sin can be found in those places. But where there is mourning, there is usually a better morality. Grieving humbles us and makes us better people, actually. Happiness often spoils us and just makes us more prone to sin and greed etc. But pain brings about a better character. Like gold is refined in the fire, so are we refined in trials.
"Sorrow is better than laughter,
For when a face is sad a heart may be happy."
Yes true. There can be an undercurrent of joy even if it is not apparent on the outside. An inner peace, that someone who is happy for a moment may never have. Therefore it would be better to have sorrow but have this peace and joy than to be happy and to not.
4" The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning,
While the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure."
Yes, because pleasure usually breeds folly. Pleasure only makes one greedy for more. And once one is pleased they will always seek to have that experience again, and until they have it they are never happy. It is better to mourn and be serious, because then you are probably thinking about things that matter.
If you think about it, it is never noted in the gospels that Jesus laughed. There is the verse saying he wept for Lazarus. He wept in the garden of Gethsemane. But it never says that Jesus, or any of the disciples in Acts, laughed. I wonder why that is? He did eat, so he took care of his body, and he did drink wine. But never is Jesus or any of his followers recorded as being silly or joking around. That is interesting.
"Do not be eager in your heart to be angry,
For anger resides in the bosom of fools."
Yes and "pride only breeds quarrels." Fools have pride. They think they are wise even though they are fools. But the truly wise man knows himself to be a fool, compared to God.
Anger is a gut response acting out of pride. Someone offends us and we want to get angry. We think they should treat us better etc. But who says that they should? Our pride. So we get angry and yell and try to control their behavior, when really any such attempt is futile most of the time.
Ecc. 12
"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."
The whole point of life is not to run after money etc. The point is to honor God with our lives as best as we can. If we love God we will keep his commandments. If we truly belong to Him, he will convict us when we don't keep them.
May we all honor God in all we do. God be with you. :)
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