Ecclesiastes (March 7th)

In trying to read through the entire Bible, I read through the book of Ecclesiastes the past couple of days. I was kind of shocked, if we are being honest, about how raw the author was. He consistently talked about how he hated life.. hated everything. There was no point to life. There was no point to learning- the smart and the ignorant all died. All were here one day and gone the next. It was almost tough to get through, but at the same time, comforting. How many of us, if we are being honest, feel like certain things in life are pointless at times. Some days you struggle with being a moral person.. a good person.. you think to yourself- everyone else seems to be doing alright and here I sit, struggling. Why am I not getting blessed? What's the point? Chapters 1-4 of Ecclesiastes is a lot of complaining about the vanity of life. About the terrible things that take place. About the apparent pointlessness of it all. 

Then chapter 5, the author switches gears a bit.

We start learning some lessons (which seems to be our theme this week!) 

First, we learn about the importance of the house of God (which is something I need to remind myself) and how we go there to learn. 

I'll be honest. It's been a long time since I have actively attended a church. Partly out of fear, partly out of anxiety, partly out of lack of trust... It isn't that we don't love Jesus. It isn't that we don't have an active prayer life here at home. It isn't that we don't read the Bible every day in the Bay house either. BUT I will say this- one thing I do miss about attending a church is learning. Some days I get so hungry to learn more. To have revelations. To see things in a new way. To have those moments of 'hope' when I feel hopeless. Sometimes, I miss that and I long for it. 

And Ecclesiastes reconfirms that. We go to the house of God to learn. To become better people. To grow. To live the best we can.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 teaches us another lesson: speak before you think.

Another lesson I KNOW I NEED to learn.

I'm one of those people that need to slow down a little bit. I shoot off at the mouth so quickly. I don't think before I start yapping. It drives me bananas some days. After a conversation, I'll think "Why did I say that?" If I would have just thought for a minute before speaking-- I would have saved a possibly bad ending to a conversation. 

Ecclesiastes 5:20 says, "God deals joy out in the present, the now. It's useless to brood over how long you might live. And as someone who deals with anxiety over the future and hypochondria- analyzing every single pain and ache in my body.... worrying about how long I will live is constantly on my mind. I talk to my husband about it a lot. He says he thinks about death maybe once a month, if that. Then you have me who thinks about it 20 times a day. 

What a lesson I need to take from this book-- it's useless to worry about how long you'll live.

This is true- it is useless. But how do you turn your mind off even though you know this is true?

Something I'll have to pray about.

Pray about ENJOYING my life instead of WORRYING it away.

Ecclesiastes 6:6 says, "Even if someone lived a thousand years- make it two thousand- but didn't enjoy anything, what's the point?" ENJOY YOUR LIFE. That's all He wants from us. To live a good, honest, happy, enjoyable life.

And I don't think worrying about every thing (i.e driving, death, sicknesses, money, going somewhere, etc.) qualifies as ENJOYING life, Alyssa. Yes, I'm yelling at myself. 

Ecclesiastes 7 starts off by telling us to "have a good reputation" because it's "better than a fat bank account." 

According to the dictionary, 'reputation' is described as, "the estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public generally; a good name." 

A good name is better than being rich.

Now, I'm not saying we have to consistently worry about what people think about us, BUT I do believe we need to be concerned by what people believe we value. Do you want people saying 'she's a liar' or 'watch out for her. She is always talking bad about people.' OR do you want people to say, 'I have never heard her say a bad word about someone' or 'She's one of the most honest people I know.'

A good name is better than all the money in the word. It's important.

One thing that eased my soul a little bit through the readings was Ecclesiastes 7:20- There's not one totally good person on the earth. Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

It's a good reminder- all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. A good reminder to not be so hard on ourselves. We are going to fall short some days. Some days, we just aren't going to measure up to the person we know we can be. And that's okay--  everyone has those days. But we get up tomorrow and we try again.

Lately, I've been wanting to work on having a gentle spirit.

I wouldn't say I'm not gentle for the most part, but I get so upset about things. Especially being a mother. I get so frustrated some days and by the end of the day any amount of 'gentleness' I had is gone. I know, I know... it's all part of being a parent and just being exhausted by the end of the day, but I really want to work on being softer. Not getting so upset by things. Letting things roll off my shoulders.

Ecclesiastes lends a hand on helping us learn this.

The author writes, "Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners." (Ecclesiastes 8:1)

This verse has made my prayer become- God, please give me wisdom. And let that wisdom lead to a more gentle spirit.

I think a gentle spirit would be a blessing for all of us... and Solomon revealed that we all need a gentle spirit when he said, "All this I observed as I tried my best to understand all that's going on in the world. As long as men and women have the power to hurt each other, this is the way it is." (Eccleasiastes 8:9)

It is heart breaking how much hurt takes places in our world today. How many people hurt other people and don't think a thing about it. Solomon knew what kind of shape the world would still be in ... even then. As long as we have the power to hurt each other... and as long as we don't choose to have the wisdom and gentleness not to do it.. it will be this way.

God, help us all to have wisdom... and let that wisdom lead to a gentle spirit.




We will discuss the rest of our Ecclesiastes journey tomorrow! Happy Daily Blog!