Ecclesiastes

I'm reading the Bible through this year historically, meaning in the order the various books were written. It sort of jumbles things up, and makes me view things at angles I've never considered.

I've just finished reading the book of Ecclesiastes.  I've never paid too much attention to the book, and have even heard that Solomon was a little off his rocker when he wrote it near the end of his life.  By then, of course, he had been pulled away from his devout love of God by his foreign wives, who influenced him to do all sorts of terrible and idolatrous things.

But Ecclesiastes is chock full of wisdom--it's just a sort of wry and slightly jaded wisdom, and its truths aren't exactly what a lot of folks want to hear.  Give it a read sometime soon, and you'll see what I mean.

I particularly loved this passage found in chapter six:

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless; it is like chasing the wind.  

Angie here again:  A friend of mine used to paraphrase this by saying, "A lot of people spend all their time wishing for things they could have if they didn't spend all their time wishing."

And this verse:  Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there's no use arguing with God about your destiny.  

Lots of folks who imagine themselves champions of their own destiny will be dismayed to read this. But nonetheless, it's true.  God, who is eternal and lives outside of time, has already written the book of our lives, and the story includes the choices we freely make/made.  It's all been decided in eternity. But we live in in the present, so our choices are free and real to us.

And here's a great verse for a writer/speaker: The more words you speak, the less they mean. So why overdo it?

Why, indeed?

Over and out,

Angie