Over the years I have noticed people of a certain age or certain experience, those perhaps in a certain field, are ready and eager to lend advice to those who have yet to go through those things. Sometimes the advice is unsolicited, perhaps even unwelcome. But what I’ve found is that if we listen to what people are telling us, especially when it comes from someone who has lived the Christian life, we will learn a lot.
As a pastor, I have benefited greatly from the guidance, wisdom and advice of my grandfather, who was a pastor himself for many years. There have been times I have gone to him with a specific question, concern or problem and asked for his thoughts. At other times he has said something to the effect of, “Now if it was me . . .” or “You need to . . .” There are moments I haven’t solicited the advice, that I haven’t wanted to listen, or haven’t liked what I heard. But I have always benefited from the advice.
Solomon is responsible for giving us most of the book of Proverbs, and here in Ecclesiastes chapter five, we see that father or grandfather figure, pulling us aside, saying, “Child, this is what I’ve learned, and if you’re smart, this is what you’ll do. I made mistakes in these areas. Don’t make them for yourself.” Then Solomon gives us some sound advice when it comes to living the righteous Christian life.
Verse one instructs us to approach the Lord (in our daily living as well as corporate worship) with a right heart, know the true reason you’re there, and be more ready to “listen and do,” or hear what He is saying to you and apply it, rather than just going through the motions or following man’s leading. Why? Because that will lead us nowhere we want to go, and we will regret it. Solomon had gone through the motions, had fulfilled many of the rituals, but had also in later life given into the flesh and going against the Lord. This cost him spiritually, and he wanted those who would read his words to know that he really did know what he was talking about.
Verses two through five offer some of the best advice to be found in the Old Testament (or anywhere in the Bible) for the modern Church and Christian. We often open our mouths before we get our brains in gear or our hearts in place. We attempt to make “deals” with God, trading our time or our deeds if He’ll do something for us, usually getting us out of some jam we’ve gotten ourselves into. A lot of people are what we would describe as “all mouth,” and we can see that. But those who have a vision, who have a dream, who know there’s a purpose for their life and they want to fulfill it, we see it not in their words but their actions. I’ve always said, “I don’t care what you have to tell me. What can you show me?” God doesn’t want words, He wants actions, and it’s better if we would not say anything at all if we’re going to say it then break our word. He never breaks His Word with us. God listens, God remembers, and when we make our pledge to Him, we need to be good to our word.
We break our word because of one reason: vanity. Vanity is more than pride; it is selfishness, looking out only for ourselves, for the moment, what is advantageous for us right now. This gets us nowhere. God, and for that matter the world, is looking for people who are dependable. Can anyone trust you? Is your word your bond? These are serious questions for serious times.
Verses 8-17 need to be taken as a block, and while I could spend a great deal of time breaking down each verse (and am slightly tempted to do so!) I just want to hit a couple of the high points. Worldly man could be described as that mass of people who work for more and more, and are less content the more they acquire. We want more to possess, to brag about, but it’s all vanity. Those people who are content with what the Lord has given them are complete and happy, able to sleep at night. But those whose only desire is to have more than everyone else (whether it’s material possessions, power, spirituality, etc) are obsessed with obtaining more no matter what the cost.
Solomon says, “I’ve seen this,” in essence admitting that he had lived it himself. He had nothing when he came into the world, and no matter how much he acquired, how much time was spent in the futile efforts to gain more earthly possessions, it all comes to an end. The severe evil Solomon speaks of is the misuse of time. We occupy this earth for such a brief time, but we can still make a difference in the life of someone else. When we live only for self, we are wasting. Even when we gain the whole world, if we keep it all for ourselves, we’ve deprived those in true need and failed to find the purpose for which God created us.
I find something interesting in verse 17 in particular. From a health standpoint, you find that those who are the most driven in the business world, those who obsess with getting more, being the best, “workaholic”-type people, often have physical health problems such as ulcers, emotional disturbances, stress, all of which wreck the body as well as the soul. Thousands of years ago Solomon, in his wisdom, described the state of man even today. Where is the satisfaction we work so hard to find and possess? It is always out of reach, unless we turn our life over to the Lord and allow Him to lead us in His ways.
That is the message of the remaining verses of chapter five. Our abilities, gifts, talents, blessings, riches, all are gifts from God which we are to use to glorify the Lord. He gives us everything we have in order to equip us to serve Him in whatever capacity He has for us. We are not to covet or worship the blessings themselves, but the One who gave them. We are not to horde them or be prideful over them. Instead, we should share them with those who need it most. In this way we are not kept busy in the endless search for purpose and fulfillment, but kept busy in the joyful pursuit of Christ’s will.
Solomon had it right. We need to take time to listen to his advice. On every hand you will find no shortage of people who want to throw in their “two cents,” who want to tell you how you should do things, whether you ask for it or not. But we need to be discerning of what the true Christian has to say to us, for in those words God may be speaking to us. At the time it might not seem like anything but a waste of precious moments of life, but one day we will look back and be very grateful that someone cared enough about us to share their experience with us. That is how our lives are changed. So listen to Solomon; listen to those spiritual men and women around you, and you will be glad you did.
© 2007, Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press. All rights reserved. All material printed on this site is protected by the copyright law of the United States. It may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press, obtainable by leaving a comment (with your request) which will be forwarded to Chris Keeton. Altering or removing any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content is not permitted. Any and all portions of material copied from the Soulscape Blog must be properly attributed to Chris Keeton and Soulscape, and cited with original blog web address.
As a pastor, I have benefited greatly from the guidance, wisdom and advice of my grandfather, who was a pastor himself for many years. There have been times I have gone to him with a specific question, concern or problem and asked for his thoughts. At other times he has said something to the effect of, “Now if it was me . . .” or “You need to . . .” There are moments I haven’t solicited the advice, that I haven’t wanted to listen, or haven’t liked what I heard. But I have always benefited from the advice.
Solomon is responsible for giving us most of the book of Proverbs, and here in Ecclesiastes chapter five, we see that father or grandfather figure, pulling us aside, saying, “Child, this is what I’ve learned, and if you’re smart, this is what you’ll do. I made mistakes in these areas. Don’t make them for yourself.” Then Solomon gives us some sound advice when it comes to living the righteous Christian life.
Verse one instructs us to approach the Lord (in our daily living as well as corporate worship) with a right heart, know the true reason you’re there, and be more ready to “listen and do,” or hear what He is saying to you and apply it, rather than just going through the motions or following man’s leading. Why? Because that will lead us nowhere we want to go, and we will regret it. Solomon had gone through the motions, had fulfilled many of the rituals, but had also in later life given into the flesh and going against the Lord. This cost him spiritually, and he wanted those who would read his words to know that he really did know what he was talking about.
Verses two through five offer some of the best advice to be found in the Old Testament (or anywhere in the Bible) for the modern Church and Christian. We often open our mouths before we get our brains in gear or our hearts in place. We attempt to make “deals” with God, trading our time or our deeds if He’ll do something for us, usually getting us out of some jam we’ve gotten ourselves into. A lot of people are what we would describe as “all mouth,” and we can see that. But those who have a vision, who have a dream, who know there’s a purpose for their life and they want to fulfill it, we see it not in their words but their actions. I’ve always said, “I don’t care what you have to tell me. What can you show me?” God doesn’t want words, He wants actions, and it’s better if we would not say anything at all if we’re going to say it then break our word. He never breaks His Word with us. God listens, God remembers, and when we make our pledge to Him, we need to be good to our word.
We break our word because of one reason: vanity. Vanity is more than pride; it is selfishness, looking out only for ourselves, for the moment, what is advantageous for us right now. This gets us nowhere. God, and for that matter the world, is looking for people who are dependable. Can anyone trust you? Is your word your bond? These are serious questions for serious times.
Verses 8-17 need to be taken as a block, and while I could spend a great deal of time breaking down each verse (and am slightly tempted to do so!) I just want to hit a couple of the high points. Worldly man could be described as that mass of people who work for more and more, and are less content the more they acquire. We want more to possess, to brag about, but it’s all vanity. Those people who are content with what the Lord has given them are complete and happy, able to sleep at night. But those whose only desire is to have more than everyone else (whether it’s material possessions, power, spirituality, etc) are obsessed with obtaining more no matter what the cost.
Solomon says, “I’ve seen this,” in essence admitting that he had lived it himself. He had nothing when he came into the world, and no matter how much he acquired, how much time was spent in the futile efforts to gain more earthly possessions, it all comes to an end. The severe evil Solomon speaks of is the misuse of time. We occupy this earth for such a brief time, but we can still make a difference in the life of someone else. When we live only for self, we are wasting. Even when we gain the whole world, if we keep it all for ourselves, we’ve deprived those in true need and failed to find the purpose for which God created us.
I find something interesting in verse 17 in particular. From a health standpoint, you find that those who are the most driven in the business world, those who obsess with getting more, being the best, “workaholic”-type people, often have physical health problems such as ulcers, emotional disturbances, stress, all of which wreck the body as well as the soul. Thousands of years ago Solomon, in his wisdom, described the state of man even today. Where is the satisfaction we work so hard to find and possess? It is always out of reach, unless we turn our life over to the Lord and allow Him to lead us in His ways.
That is the message of the remaining verses of chapter five. Our abilities, gifts, talents, blessings, riches, all are gifts from God which we are to use to glorify the Lord. He gives us everything we have in order to equip us to serve Him in whatever capacity He has for us. We are not to covet or worship the blessings themselves, but the One who gave them. We are not to horde them or be prideful over them. Instead, we should share them with those who need it most. In this way we are not kept busy in the endless search for purpose and fulfillment, but kept busy in the joyful pursuit of Christ’s will.
Solomon had it right. We need to take time to listen to his advice. On every hand you will find no shortage of people who want to throw in their “two cents,” who want to tell you how you should do things, whether you ask for it or not. But we need to be discerning of what the true Christian has to say to us, for in those words God may be speaking to us. At the time it might not seem like anything but a waste of precious moments of life, but one day we will look back and be very grateful that someone cared enough about us to share their experience with us. That is how our lives are changed. So listen to Solomon; listen to those spiritual men and women around you, and you will be glad you did.
© 2007, Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press. All rights reserved. All material printed on this site is protected by the copyright law of the United States. It may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press, obtainable by leaving a comment (with your request) which will be forwarded to Chris Keeton. Altering or removing any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content is not permitted. Any and all portions of material copied from the Soulscape Blog must be properly attributed to Chris Keeton and Soulscape, and cited with original blog web address.
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