Day #202
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 7 - 8 …
Human wisdom is limited, it's as simple as that.
Solomon writes, "Since no man knows the future, who can tell him
what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one
has power over the day of his death" (8:7-8). Much of the Bible
is written to put us in our place … to help us understand that we are NOT God,
but that there IS a God who created the world and everything in it and HIS
wisdom, power and understanding ARE unlimited!
People who know God find rest in Him and know that
His ways are best. In Chapter 7, Solomon says, "A good name is
better than fine perfume" (7:1).
And how do you get a good name?
By living according to God's commands.
Doing so brings joy! In verses
2-4 of Chapter 7, Solomon seems to be saying that it is better to be sad than
happy! How can that be? Remember that Jesus said, "Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:3-4). Both are
expressing the truth that living in this world that is broken by sin moves
those who know God to grieve, to recognize the horrible consequences of sin and
to long to be free from the bonds, from the limitations of this life.
Pretending that all is well when it isn't is foolishness. Carried
to the extreme this would lead to despair, but Solomon is pointing out that
taking life seriously is important. Laughter is good medicine and joy is
the fruit of the Spirit, but seeking happiness in the pleasures of this world
is the pursuit of fools.
The next few verses contain some of Solomon's
proverbs. He points out some of the contrasts and apparent contradictions
you and I experience in living life. He is describing how some people
think as they debate what is right or wrong, good or bad. Man's wisdom,
you will remember, is limited. "The
man who fears God will avoid all extremes" (7:18). Joy is found
in knowing God and serving Him in this world, knowing that eternity lies
ahead!!
If your hope is in the Lord and you know He is with
you, if you rejoice in His love and forgiveness and know that you have eternal
life waiting for you, and if you know there is a purpose for everything that
happens and that God is faithful to provide all you truly need, that He will
never leave or forsake you … then you have “joy
in the Lord” every day!
Solomon writes, "All this I tested by
wisdom and I said, 'I am determined to be wise' - but this was beyond me.
Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound - who can
discover it?" (7:23-24). People will believe almost any theory
scientists come up with today, even though they change their minds and their
theories continually. Solomon concludes, "This only have I found:
God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many
schemes" (7:29). How true that is! The schemes of mankind
know no end. We continue to explore the universe GOD made to discover
where we came from and how this world began, when God has already told us!
So Solomon asks, "Who is like the wise man?
Who knows the explanation of things?" (8:1). Centuries
later, Paul asks the same question in I Corinthians 1, as he quotes Isaiah
29:14, where God says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the
intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." And then the
question: "Where is the wise man? ... Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of the world? … (I Corinthians 1:20).
He arrives then where he always does … at
obedience. Remember Jesus' words at the end of His Sermon on the Mount as
He explains that the foolish man builds his house on the sand, while the wise
man builds his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24). Solomon tells those who
read his words to "obey the king's command, I say, because you took an
oath before God" (8:2). Surely, he is writing about One greater
than himself, the king of Israel. If Solomon understood one thing it was
that there was a King who was greater than He was!
Remember, human wisdom, knowledge and understanding
is limited. We need desperately to understand our "place," lest
we boast in our own wisdom and forget how much we need God. There is
something worse than being lost … it is not knowing you are lost! If you
don't know you're lost, if you boast in your own wisdom and power, you will
never seek God or know Him. What could possibly be more tragic than that?
Solomon witnesses injustices and evil in the world,
yet he says, "I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who
are reverent before God" (8:12).
KNOWING God leads to a life lived with and for God as His Spirit lives
within us. Without the knowledge of God there is only "living
death." "Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not
go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow" (8:13).
Having seen what God had done and was doing,
Solomon concludes, "No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun.
Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its
meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really
comprehend it" (8:17). With the explosion of knowledge at the
end of the last century and the beginning of this one, mankind cannot answer the
simplest of questions: "Where did we come from? Why are we
here? Where are we going?"
The Bible begins with God and ends with God. Solomon declares that
wisdom begins with God and ends with God! Each successive decade reveals
people of all ages drifting farther and farther away from the knowledge of God
as they seek wisdom in the theories and philosophies of men.
Pray that God would reveal His wisdom to you and to
those whom you know and love, as well as to others. Testify to His
greatness and to the truth of His Word. Be an instrument in God's hands
to declare His Name to the nations. When you know your place and come to
God through faith in Jesus Christ you discover the life you've longed for … the
life that brings certain and lasting joy and peace … life lived in the presence
of your Creator. It's a good thing to know your place!!
"O LORD, my God, Your wisdom is so far beyond
the supposed wisdom of mankind. I thank
You, Father, for Your Spirit and for the wisdom You have revealed in Your Word. Teach me to know You, to love You and to
serve You, that I may find my joy in You and finally enter Your presence by
Your grace through faith in Your Son. In
Jesus' name, Amen"
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