Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

We all have different perspectives on life.  The things that are enjoyable to one person are tedious to another person.  Some people place a high priority on relationships while others consider responsibilities to be more important.  There are those who seem to naturally be obedient and try to please those around them while others are rebellious and tend to be devious.  Solomon experienced both sides of pretty much all of these contrasts.  He comes to some rather strange and surprising conclusions about life that may take us by surprise.

COMPARISONS THAT PROMOTE EXCELLENCE: Integrity is better than prosperity.  We can have all kinds of things but if we do not have integrity our lives will eventually be less than excellent.  Death is better than birth.  This may take us by surprise, but it is certainly true for those who have trusted Christ.  Our birth is the beginning of our lives of sin with all of its consequences; our death is the end of all of that and opens an eternal life in the presence of God.  Funerals are better than parties.  This is another one that we do not really understand, but funerals are places where people consider the eternality of life while parties are places of frivolity that are all about instant gratification.  Rebuke is better than flattery.  We all like to hear good things about ourselves but it is very dangerous because we might actually believe these things.  Rebuke is far more productive and beneficial for us.  Patience is better than anger.  We need to have patience with people and not allow our temper to control us.  The present is better than the past.  It does very little good to remember the “good old days” or to live in regret we always live in the present and should embrace that.  Wisdom is better than prosperity.  We place way too much value on money and way too little value on wisdom.  Sovereignty is better than pride.  It is far more important for us to recognize that God is in control instead of ourselves.  

COUNSEL THAT PROMOTES BALANCE: We have an idea that the righteous will always prosper and that the wicked will always suffer.  This is just not the way that things work.  If we have this perspective we will find ourselves very disappointed and frustrated in life.  Even if righteousness does not guarantee blessings in our lives we must place a high value upon it as well as wisdom without becoming radical about them.  We must learn to take ourselves with a grain of salt.  Gullibility is a very dangerous thing.  It is important to test what we hear and not believe everything that people tell us.  We are not able to understand everything in life and will go crazy if we try to find and explanation for everything.  God really is in control and the sooner we recognize our own limitations the better off we will be.  The pleasure of a beautiful woman is one of the most attractive temptations that we face but it is also one of the sins with the greatest consequences.  A wise person will learn to say no to these temptations.  There are very few truly good people but it is important that we do not become cynical in life and just accept the reality of who we are as men and be warned that this is what we must face in ourselves as well.