Ecclesiastes 7:1-29
Wisdom
1 A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise man into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
13 Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.
19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.
21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
John 10:7-10 (KJV)
Jesus Came So We Can Live Life Abundantly
7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
King Solomon gives us a reflection on his life in his writing...He seems to be writing continually about himself and what his life has encountered and been like...It seems very self reflecting...He gives us much wisdom about life to us in his Book of Ecclesiastes... In chapter seven the good teacher gives us more practical advice from his wisdom, than some of the philosophical things he writes about in the other chapters...Nonetheless, he continues to tell us that man without God is empty...At the very best life without God is a shallow one...The question brought to mind -is what is life without God?...
Some things he tells us is that a good name is better than a fine perfume...It is better to go to a funeral and mourning and be there, than a house of feasting...People tend to remember, who comes to the family's funerals... Sorrow is good for us, because it makes us reflect, especially on life...And he goes on giving us thoughts on the wisdom from his life...Wisdom is a good thing and is a shelter...It is like an inheritance...And wisdom preserves the life of the possessor...
He then finishes the chapter with God, and the meaningless meaning to man's life...Righteous men will perish, right along with the wicked...He tells us to respect and be sincere to God and do not maximize or minimize the situations and troubles you are faced with...Things are never as good as they seem, and they are never as bad, as our initial impressions...Solomon warns us of adultery and those who prey on other people's marriages just to ruin them...Solomon has many foreign wives and some of them may have led him astray...He ends with the thought that man is always searching and curious about life and looks at many things and many schemes...
The author reflects hard on life...And he ways in his life, much, if not all has been meaningless...And this wise man has seen many things...In most of the chapters, I think with the exception to chapters four and ten, God is mentioned and included -in each of them...There is a reason God is mentioned so often...God must be a part of lives to have meaning...Without God in your life, life is meaningless...Life without Him and His Son, is a callous, empty, shallow one -that is meaningless...We work and toil, have a family, retire, and then just die -if there is no God...
Without God there is no life...Life is then meaningless...But we have a choice to believe in God...And for many believers, if not all believers -He gives us a reason and purpose for living...He answers the "Why question."...And if we believe in Him, there is much, much more...With God, who is eternal, there is eternity, and our afterlife to look forward too...He has proven this and His Greatest Sign was His Son coming to earth doing mighty things, giving us mighty signs, and saying everlasting words...There is much more to life and more in this life -and Jesus added to that mystery...
St. Paul said faith, hope, and love are the three great virtues in this life...Love is the Golden Key, but faith and hope brings us and shows us that there is more to life than what we see, hear, feel inside, and touch...Faith in the Father and Son take the emptiness and shallowness and meaningless out of life...Faith in the Father and Son gives life abundance...In fact, Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it to the fullest possible measure...