relationships (Ecclesiastes 7:15-24) Priorities and Moderation

(Ecclesiastes 7:15-24) 

15 I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness. 16 Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you grasp one thing while not letting go of the other; for one who fears God comes out with both of them.

19 Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin. 21 Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you, 22 for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but wisdom was far from me. 24 What has been is remote and very mysterious. Who can discover it?

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Life in moderation!  We definitely need to balance out all our relationships, responsibilities and leisure plans with wisdom.  I recently saw an illustration that brilliantly portrayed where the Lord should be placed in our list of priorities.  I've always known that regarding my relationships, God should be first in my life, then my spouse, then my children, then the church family, family and friends...  Well, this illustration had a sign post, with signs nailed onto it, top to bottom, BUT it didn't have God at the top.  RATHER, God WAS the sign post!!!  (Mind blown!!!)  Therefore, with the Lord at the center of everything, as our foundation and pillar of strength, and everything attached to Him, He can help us prioritize, as well as be a part of each relationship, task and event!

When we have God managing all the things in life for us, everything will go much smoother, even and especially when life gets bumpy!  So always, we should be going to the Lord for His strength, guidance and help, in everything.  But then, how does that jibe with verse 16.  Well, I have two ways this makes complete sense.  

There was an occasion when I really wanted to know what the Bible said on a specific topic - immediately!!!  It is a good thing that I want to know what God, Himself, says, and not what someone else says based on their personal research.  But, what happened was, I spent hours and hours a day, from morning to night, reading through the Bible and taking notes, all the while neglecting my family and my household tasks.  Reading and studying the Bible is a very excellent thing, but not to the point that one neglects other important and necessary things.

Another way we can get off track while pursuing excellence, is when we become "too righteous" - meaning - self-righteous.  I've seen this happen with a group of people that got caught up in a "Christian" cult.  They were very well meaning, with very good intentions, but they were wrong when they tried to look more righteous than Jesus!  It became a competition... like: who could be more convicted of something, so they could then compare and judge and put others down, while looking better than everyone else.  So many things became sinful based on their personal preferences... even though these things were not sinful at all.  They then had to take the Bible out of context in order to support and justify their personal "rightness".  It became excessive to the point of stifling their own lifestyles, while causing weaker believers to stumble, leave the church, and even leave their faith.  

I could go on and on about just how dangerous that path can become, but what we need to know is that as believers, we are not to worry or fear, or cause anyone else to worry or fear.  And we are not to judge!  We are not the righteousness-police.  It is not our job to stamp out sin in other people's lives. Verses 21-22 talks about this.  Another way to put this is found in Matthew 7:3.  We shouldn't look at the speck in our brother's eye, when we have a speck in our own.  

No one is perfect!  And we do not know everything (even Solomon, the wisest known man on earth, admitted that he couldn't achieve any great level of wisdom).  So we most certainly cannot know what is in another person's heart or mind.  Only God can judge a person's motives for doing or saying anything.  Therefore, we are told to be gracious and forgiving towards one another, since God, Himself, is also very gracious and forgiving.  

Because of God's forgiveness and grace, believers are free from sin.  This is not a license to sin.  Besides, wisdom reminds us that there will be consequences here on earth.  As well, because we love the Lord, we will not want to sin!  But because we will still sin, even when we don't want to, we all continue to need God's help!

Part of getting God's help is to understand verse 18, where Solomon tells us that we need both (God's) wisdom and (God's) righteousness working together.  If we are studying the Bible, but we are not putting into practice what we have learned, what good is that?  And if we are trying to be righteous, but only based on how our limited knowledge sees appropriate, what is that?  Therefore, in our personal relationship with the Lord, it is all about getting to know Him and His word better, and then asking Him for help in applying and putting into practice His righteousness.