Do This Before It's Too Late

Chapter 12 is the final chapter in the book of Ecclesiastes.

It starts out with these words: "Remember your Creator . . ."

And over the next several verses, the author spells out that you should always remember your Creator, the Lord our God, before you hit the twilight of your life, before you are no longer able to see, able to work, able to walk, or, simply, do anything.

Remember God before it is too late,

You Cannot Predict God's Works

In the 11th chapter from the book of Ecclesiastes, most of it speaks on dividing your investments across many different areas because one never knows where the most profit will come from.  It also speaks to farmers predicting the weather, to find out when to place their seeds.  This is meaningless as one can never predict when it will be the best.

The last three verses are about finding joy and not to worry.  It is best to enjoy life, especially in one's youth, but not to be too careless because in the end you will have to account for it in the eyes of God.

Sharpen Your Saw

Continuing in the book of Ecclesiastes, I am astonished by the amount spoken about wisdom.  Wisdom is the predominate theme in this book--so therefore, very important.

In chapter 10, one of the first verses to strike a tone with me is verse 4, which says that if a boss is angry with you, do not quit.  Your quiet spirit will overcome whatever mistakes are made.  Some people hop from job to job whenever they witness an obstacle.  If God speaks at you through your heart, listen to Him.  He may be telling you to stay the course and keep calm.

Verses 5 through 7 deal with foolish rulers and wise people may be in low positions of authority.  These verses are worth reading and praying about.

Verse 10 is one of my favorites: "Using a dull axe requires great strength, so sharpen the blade.  That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed."  Stephen Covey in his 7 Habits series of books teaches about sharpening the blade and giving yourself time to reflect and learn.  Use that time to sharpen your skills, making you a wiser person.

Verse 20 is the last verse in this chapter and is rather interesting to ponder: "Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts.  And don't make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom . . ."  Getting political for a brief moment (United States politics, mind you), one may make fun of the deteriorating mind of our current commander-in-chief or those on the opposite side of the aisle poked fun at the previous administration.  As a Christian and follower of Christ and His Lord Our God, neither should be done and we need to be better.  We need to pray for our leaders, even though we may disagree with them on so many issues.

Sharpen your saw by praying and reading Scripture daily. 

We Cannot Escape Death

In the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, we are reminded that no matter what we do, who we are, and who our ancestry is, death comes to us all in the end.

In verse 7, the author says to eat food with joy and drink with a happy heart, for God approves of such things.

Verse 9 is interesting because it reads: "Live happily with the woman you love through all of the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun.  The wife God gives you is your reward for all of your earthly toil."  My heart warms when I read this, for not only did God give me my first wife, He also gave me a future wife after my first one passed over two years ago.

By the end of the chapter, it speaks about wisdom once again--as it has many times in this book.  You should never ignore wise counsel, even if it comes from a poor, old citizen instead of a wild and crazy leader.

Revering God, Even In Good Times

 In the 8th chapter from the book of Ecclesiastes, it starts out with wisdom once again and how wonderful it is to analyze and interpret things.

Wisdom is spoken about a lot in this book and something not to be taken lightly.

We look up to those who are wise, those whom God has given authority.

In verse 9, the author of the book stated that people have been given the power to do harm to one another, to be wicked.  When a crime is not punished right away, people feel safe to do so more often--that is surely reflective of our society last summer when violent riots occurred across many cities in the United States.

The wicked do not prosper, and we should always fear and revere the Lord.  Most seem to only seek out the Lord in times of bad.  But it is said to always seek out the Lord, even in good times.

Wisdom Revisited

In the 7th chapter from the book of Ecclesiastes, the first verse says that a "good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume . . ."

How true this is, for one's reputation is what is lasting and can have lifelong repercussions.  The first fourteen verses sound a lot like Proverbs in a way, for each one is a lesson in itself.  For example, verse 9 speaks about anger: "Control your anger, for anger labels you a fool."  The recent events at the Oscars is evident of this.

The last half of the chapter deals with wisdom and living a righteous life.  In fact, it warns not to live too much of a righteous life, for one will not enjoy life while trying to follow all of the nearly impossible rules set for us.

Not that we shouldn't try to be as good as possible, but sometimes we need to have enjoyment in our life too.

Verse 16 says that "a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death."  This right here seems to cause more people to go astray than anything.  It is much better to be faithful and pleasing to God than to search out earthly pursuits for the sake of short-term pleasure.

Attention

What has your attention?

So many things these days vie for our attention, from social media to games on our phones, all getting us to divert any spare attention to them.

"Me!  Me!  Look at me!"

As always, God and his Holy Words seem to be forgotten in all this.  Whatever you need to do, make a habit of reading the Bible daily.  Even if it's a chapter, a verse, a single Psalm or Proverb.  God and His Holy Spirit will guide you in your daily walk, and allow Him into your life, to speak to you through His Holy Words.