Year 5, Day 336: Ecclesiastes 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Protection

• Protection: In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray that God might deliver us from evil – even the Evil One.  Sometimes we need God’s protection from the sin around us.  Sometimes we need protection from the sinful people around us.  Other times we need protection from the sin that lies within ourselves. In any case, Jesus’ point is clear.  We need protection from the Father to make it through each and every day.

I think this is going to feel a little strange at first.  In my blog post from three years ago, I look at this chapter largely through the lens of happiness.  After all, that’s ultimately from where Solomon comes throughout this whole chapter.  If we are not able to enjoy what God has given us, what’s the point of having it or doing it?

This got me thinking about why I don’t enjoy the things around me.  I think there is one main reason why I don’t enjoy life more: me.  I don’t enjoy life more because I end up chasing the wrong dreams.  I don’t enjoy life more because I worry about the wrong things.  I spend a good bit of my life chasing after what I want instead of what God wants for me.  As Solomon says many times, this is a great evil.

This is what leads me to the idea of protection.  I need to protect myself from myself.  What good is a life spent in the acquisition of money if I don’t enjoy it?  I might want a lot of money, but if having the largest pool of money as possible becomes the goal in the place of God, am I doing any good?  Will I enjoy my life in that case?  As I read through this chapter of Ecclesiastes, I really do see my need for God to protect me from myself.  It is so easy for me to slip into a vain life just by following my own desires and not the call of God within my life.

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