Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Ecclesiastes 7:17-18
The warning here is that two lifestyle choices tend to burn a person out. To give in to all of one’s deepest wicked desires is a path to destruction. To foolishly live by one’s own principles outside the wisdom of God’s truth is another path to a short life. It is best to avoid these selfish choices. Instead, the promise here is that the fear of God steers a person clear of unproductive, selfish burnout.
If ever there is a time to heed the wisdom of Solomon on this matter it is now. King Solomon literally pleased every desire conceivable, and he found them all unfulfilling. And we can get caught in the same lie today. The planet reels from billions of people on a foolish path to self-seeking flameout! And the speed with which these kinds of things sweep across human society is breathtaking. Social media trends roll across the globe in worldwide waves in under an hour. The newest and latest gimmick can be here and gone in under a week. News cycles on major stories used to last for days. Now they last under a few hours before the next thing captures short attention spans. People with the weirdest wickedness can gather in online communities rolling their foolishness together in a false sense of empowerment.
And the call to be one who fears God is still the best balance to all this. Solomon’s quiet call to wisdom in submission to God can carry us beyond this high speed internet version of the rat race. The gospel of Jesus Christ is still the only life-giving way to find true personal satisfaction, community, and peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment