Year 2, Day 335: Ecclesiastes 5

Preparing For Worship

Ecclesiates 5 - or at least the opening verses - is a chapter I should probably commit to reading at least once a Sunday morning when I arrive at church and everything is still quiet.  “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  How often do I approach the place of worship in the same way that I approach my own house?  How often do I approach Sunday morning with an attitude of looking to see what I can contribute rather than looking to listen to what God wants to bring to me?  How often do I need to remember to guard my steps and make sure that I’m there for God and not there for my own glory?

As far as the rest of the opening, the part about offering up the sacrifice of fools is pretty important as well.  It is better to come and listen than to offer up the sacrifice of fools.  What is the sacrifice of fools?  The sacrifice of fools is coming into God’s presence and making promises that we have no desire keeping.  The sacrifice of fools is coming and making a confession that we have no intention in keeping.  The sacrifice of fools is participating in a communion event when we’re just going through the motions.  It is better to come to God’s house and listen and absorb and make no promises than it is to come and go through the motions making commitments to God that we have no intention of keeping.  I find it especially grievous when so often we “go through the motions” just because people might “think something is wrong” if we don’t.  It’s sad how we allow appearances to matter more than genuine spirituality!

Vows

Then we move on to the section about making vows.  As we’ve seen so far, one section naturally leads into the next.  We are to guard ourselves going into the house of God.  We have to be careful to listen and assert God’s presence over ourselves while we are there.  Now we see that we should refrain from making vows that we have no intention of keeping.  The neat part about this advice is that it is so counter-cultural.  Human culture tells us talk big regardless of what our intentions are.  Ecclesiastes tells us to talk appropriate for our intentions.  In other words, talk small and let your actions speak louder than your words.

The opening paragraph of the section on wealth and honor gives us another really neat perspective.  Every person has someone watching over them.  Everybody has someone to whom they are accountable.  Everyone, that is, except the king of the land – or leader of an organization of people.  This is why Solomon makes the comment that a king who is devoted to the cultivation of the fields is so important.  If the king is devoted to that which the people need, then the people will feel less need to worry about the agenda of the king since there is often no real means for accountability otherwise.

Meaningful Toil

Verse 12 is a neat line, especially when read in conjunction with Luke 12:13-21. Here we see Solomon speaking that the sleep of the laborer is deep and meaningful while the sleep of the wealthy is not as satisfactory.  The laborer comes to bed tired and without too much concern except to get up and work the next day.  However, the wealth of the prosperous gives them plenty to worry about which to worry.  People who have been blessed with wealth have to be concerned with storing up their wealth, keeping it safe, and having it for the future.  So often we think from a human perspective that wealth is the highest attainable goal because it solves a number of problems.  But there are many problems that are associated with wealth as well.

You Can’t Take It With You

As we finish this chapter, we come upon a topic about which we have already spoken in our study of Ecclesiastes.  Some people work to have more wealth than they can possibly use in a reasonable fashion in this life.  But here’s the question that Solomon asks.  Can any of us take it with us?  Is there any point to accumulating more wealth than any of us need for a lifespan?  Do we not all go out of this world as empty-handed as we came into it?

Sure, there is the point about leaving an inheritance for one’s progeny.  Certainly there’s nothing wrong with leaving something for one’s children.  But the real point is the loss of focus.  If we are living to make sure we have more resources than we could use and thus have resources left over for our children, we are potentially making two errors in judgment.  First, we are possibly learning to depend on ourselves and not depend upon God.  Second, we are possibly teaching others to do the same.

What is good?  It is good to enjoy what God has given to us.  It is good to manage our resources well.  It is good to enjoy the creation that God has made for us.  But we need not put the creation and the things of this creation above God.

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