Seeking Wisdom from the Author of Wisdom
Living right is not always easy, but it has some major benefits. Likewise, wickedness might feel natural, but it sure has some downsides.
“Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness subverts the sinner.” Proverbs 13:6 [Read more…]
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
“Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin’ ?” Proverbs 20:9
Pride is a uniquely human trait. Some pride is seen as being good – pride in your football team, pride in your work, pride in your family, etc. The loyal, confident assurance. I’m not speaking of that kind of pride. [Read more…]
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 5:10
Money and wealth are a necessary part of human existence; they are the exchange agent in all economies. In ancient times, it was livestock or land. Today, it can be cash or stocks or real estate investments. Essentially, money and wealth are identified not so much by what they are, but by what they represent. [Read more…]
“Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6
Most people are familiar with the idea of sowing and reaping, as taught in the Bible. This principle is commonly understood to be applied spiritually. And this is right. But, as in much of Scripture, we can apply a principle in more than one way and find it to be clearly intended so.
The Bible is replete with metaphors. Metaphors are a great teaching tool – possibly the most effective there is. With a metaphor, a concrete example is applied to a conceptual idea, marrying the two to illustrate and clarify one another. The result to the learner is a fuller, deeper understanding of the concept illustrated.
This method is seen all throughout the Word of God. It is used in specific words, such as wine, blood, branches, and water. It is seen in phrases, such as “fishers of men” and “kingdom of heaven” and “wages of sin”.
The writer of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, used metaphors to teach his wisdom all through the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Here, he is focusing on the business concept of productivity, making the best use of one’s time and resources. And in like manner, one can see a powerful spiritual concept aligning itself perfectly with the business concept.
This idea of sowing and reaping shows us in very simple terms how to plan and carry out our business endeavors. “Sow your seed in the morning…”
The morning is when we get up. We have just been refreshed from a long sleep. We are recharged, ready to go. THIS IS THE TIME TO WORK. This is not the time to be sleeping. That is why God created the night. And it’s not simply a matter of personal preference – God designed the human body to function a certain way and follow a certain pattern. If anyone would deny this, ask them if they have ever experienced jet lag. It’s a phenomenon that interferes with the internal pattern God put into the human body to function in particular way.
If people aren’t working in the morning, they are being idle. And idleness leads only to trouble. (“Laziness casts into a deep sleep, And an idle man will suffer hunger.” Proverbs 19:15)
Of course there are many who would contest this. They might say “I work better at night” or “I can’t get going till late in the day”. But does their personal preference undo the words of God?
I don’t think we can take a passage such as this one and say there are no exceptions – the wisdom books of the Bible are general concepts and principles, and there are instances where the opposite of an axiom comes true. Even Solomon himself lamented this unfortunate reality here:
“I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11
There are unexplained paradoxes in life! But…what the Ecclesiastes teaches is a general principle, and the outlaying of the general truth is seen over and over again in life. It behooves us to follow what it taught – not hope for an exception!
He furthers his lesson in commanding his readers to likewise not be idle in the evening…a time more people might be tempted to be idle. Solomon is not imploring us to work non-stop and without rest. He’s telling us not to be idle. Big difference. Idleness is many things, but it could be narrowed down to simply “wasting time”.
What is wasting time? Well, that might be a little different for every person, but if it could be capsulized into one definition we could say it is doing anything for which there is no real purpose or benefit, to oneself and especially for others.
We all fall into the trap of thinking sometimes we need to do whatever we feel like doing. We need “time off”. We need to just chill out. Or whatever.
Do we? I will say with certainty that the most productive, successful, and effective people in the history of the world spent very little, if any, of their life doing whatever they felt like doing. The shakers of the world became so by being constantly committed to their purpose in life, and most significantly those who saw God’s purpose as something they must give every possible moment of their life to.
Think of all the people in history who have dramatically changed societies and nations for the better (inventors, political leaders, teachers). Think of the renowned of the Bible, men and women who God used to shape His kingdom in this world. How many of them spent their lives being idle, wasting time? Resting???
Our greatest example, the perfect Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ, committed every minute of His life to the purpose God had given Him.
The reason we have to sow a lot – morning and evening – is because we live in a cursed world. We just don’t know what will work, if one will fail, and the other succeed, or both, either way. There are no guarantees. Just because we work hard at one time does not ensure that we will get positive results – physically or spiritually. We must operate under the framework of chance and time and realize in order to succeed, we have to make the absolute best use of every minute.
The main point here is that we are to be productive with our time. All of our time. God has given us such a wonderful gift of life, the least we can do is make the absolute best use of it, sowing and reaping…morning and evening.
“Then I looked again at vanity under the sun.” Ecc 4:7
Solomon spent much of his life in contemplation. He was trying to figure out life. He was trying to understand it. He took on the arduous task of narrowing life and all its components into one, cohesive conclusion: what is the meaning of life???
Each time Solomon thought he was getting closer, he would realize again that the mystical, ethereal answer was eluding him. In despair, after countless attempts to summarize it, his conclusion of life crumbled to a hopeless epitaph: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Ecc 1:2
One thing is for sure: Solomon didn’t live in pipe dreams. He was what we might call a “realist”. And there are some who would say he was a pessimist, a man who took a dark view of things. No matter how one sees his perspective on life, there is a significant fact that must not be ignored, and it is this: Solomon had every reason to be happy, perhaps more than anyone who has ever lived.
It is indisputable that he had riches beyond the imagination. He had worldwide power (I Kings 4:21). He had massive influence (I Kings 4:34). And he had wisdom (I Kings 4:30). How could one so endowed with everything that is desirable, have taken on such a despairing view of life?
I will tell you how. Because Solomon had experienced the “ultimate” – achieved the highest possible level of everything that is desired by people in all the world, he was uniquely positioned by God to offer the overarching, all-encompassing truth:
In chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon told us about the mission he embarked upon to find happiness and contentment. He held nothing back. He explored everything that humanity has used and is using today to find that imaginary gem at the end of the fantastical rainbow.
He pursued it with wine (body stimulation with drugs). He built buildings and parks and gardens (accomplishment and achievement). He had slaves and servants and workers under him, at his service (internal power and influence). Vast herds of livestock and gold and silver (wealth). Treasures of kings and provinces (global power and influence). Singers and a harem of women (entertainment and pleasure). Wisdom and discretion (intellectual achievement).
Did he miss anything? I don’t think so. What Solomon pursued is essentially what everyone on the planet pursues, day by day, every day, to the end of their lives.
And what did he find? NOTHING. Nothing but vanity.
“Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.” Ecc 2:11
Pretty dark, huh? Yeah, maybe, but Solomon was just saying what was true. People may not want to openly confess that there is no lasting meaning in what they do all throughout the year. They may even put on a pretense of happiness and fulfillment. But that doesn’t make it real.
In truth, people have been experiencing what Solomon experienced from the far reaches of history to this very morning. Nothing has changed.
It does mean a lot more coming from a man who had everything intellectually, physically, situationally, mentally. If one who has achieved the epitome of life says it’s all meaningless and void…we’d better tune in.
The great writer of Ecclesiastes left us with some serious things to think about. He beckoned us to not waste time in the fruitless pursuit of things that have never, and can never, bring happiness. Instead, this weathered old man, having experienced all that the world could give him, arrived at the final, conclusive truth here in these words:
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Ecc 12:13,14
