DELETE
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
I was writing a blog about my wiring and sharing thoughts because I felt it was what I needed to do and then, I thought, no one wants to read about how I'm wired differently and how each day is a challenge. I mean, I don't want to read about it either! DELETE
So, what to write about? My non-existent bucket list? My pet peeves? The list of things I do not want to experience? Why I'm not a photographer? Encouraging 101? Organizing to fit? The arts iniquity = emotional imbalance in America's youth? How to trap the furry-tailed rat aka squirrel or a couple of fat Dove? Why I believe Pinterest is of the devil? The car we drive won't get us to heaven? Anything I can do, you can do better. You can do anything better than me, yes, you can!!! So, please, do!!!?
What about Ecclesiastes 7?
Wisdom
1 A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
5 It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
12 Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
13 Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.
19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins.
21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
Wow, this was quite the life reflection from Solomon.
I take this to represent that the course of life we pursue should be a God-centered life. The pleasures of life are not essential to fulfillment and cannot offer eternal satisfaction, but they can be enjoyed. Life offers good times and bad and follows no pattern, but that comes from the hand of God:
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.—Ecclesiastes 7:14
And women, you have something divinely special and beautiful so use it wisely.
Life's valleys may not be enjoyable, but they can mold us into the people of faith we ought to be.
Fresh Find: What a fun twist on the vintage cuckoo clock!