Ecclesiastes 7:16 Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s stumped. I can’t come up with a brilliant opening that will just grab you and make you go ‘Wow!’ Then have you straining at your leash to devour the Bit. (smile) But it sure is wonderful to be alive, to be granted another day on earth to enjoy God’s goodness. For that I am eternally grateful and give Him much thanks and praise. And so should all who have the ability, the privilege to read these words. I did read an interesting comic strip where two women are talking about busy signals on phones. One says that was before all the technological junk we have now; blackberries, google, i-phones, twitter, facebook etc. The other retorts with a very telling comment, that people are too busy now to have a busy signal. Steups! But it’s no lie, for everybody is so busy doing what I don’t know. There’s only one friend I can call now whose phone will generate a busy signal if it’s occupied. All the others have call waiting, answering systems or something else, but no busy tones. But are we doing any better? No. Maybe quicker. And I’m not even sure of that for the inefficiency in the workplace these days is staggering, despite all these new fangled gadgets that are supposed to improve efficiency and productivity. We’ve become lazier and more sedentary from constantly sitting in front of a t.v or computer screen with a devastating rise in obesity that lack of physical activity promotes. And sadly, all these things are just leading to a ‘dumbing down’ of the younger generation. They might be technically astute, but very wanting in life skills, and in an age of endless information, not well informed. Anyway, that’s just the ole fella’s opinion, and it’s doubtful if the young uns will agree with me, while they’re running around texting, talking and multi-tasking, but really going nowhere fast. And yuh know what Friends, I will wisely accept the Preacher’s advice: ‘Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?’ Now that’s a very interesting question, but sadly, many of us still destroy ourselves for no apparent reason. Remember yesterday I said that some of us believers consider ourselves so holy and righteous when we’re the exact opposite? Well it’s that kind of excess the writer of Ecclesiastes is warning us about. We shouldn’t be overly righteous, but shun the sin of self-righteousness, where we behave like we’ve actually achieved righteousness or at least reached its apex. Oh my people, this can lead us to be very short-sighted, narrow minded, opinionated and all those pompous attitudes that are definitely not Christian-like. It’s like everything else in life; we should not over do it. The motto should be circumspection and moderation, because if you go around with this holier than thou attitude, turning up your nose at lowly sinners, of which you are really foremost, then all you’re doing is turning others off the gospel and Christ. The most offensive person you can ever meet is a know it all, self-righteous believer of any persuasion. Those who know all the doctrine and religious law and are active in many areas of the church, but quickly avert their eyes or pass by on the other side when they come upon someone truly needing help. As Sol warns: ‘Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.’ (Prov.25:16) Those are priceless words of wisdom Friends. We should not have or display a greedy attitude in anything. That’s like when we go to an all you can eat buffet and gorge ourselves just because we can eat as much as we want, then are terribly sick afterwards. The Preacher also brings up the other extreme, of being too evil. ‘Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?’ (Eccl.7:17) Now this in no way means that a moderate state of wickedness is acceptable. According to the scholars, it’s an accommodation to human weakness. The Preacher is saying to avoid the extreme of self-righteousness, but also restrain your inherently wicked nature so it doesn’t run its natural course and lead you down the broad highway of spiritual and moral ruin. Oh Friends, the whole exercise is just a basic law of not over doing, for there’s seldom any benefit in it, but it often breeds calamity. Bruh Paul puts it nicely when he advises the Romans. ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Rom.12:3) Yes Friends, arrogance and pomposity in a believer is unworthy of our Saviour. Sol put’s it sweet and short. ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’ (Prov.25:27) That leads to another wise scripture: ‘Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.’ (Prov.27:2) That means we shouldn’t blow our own trumpet, though in today’s world that doesn’t seem to cut it, for everybody seems to think they’re the greatest thing around. My people, if we truly want to follow Jesus, then we have to become like Him; humble and not making overly much of ourselves, for nobody likes a braggart or an arrogant person, least of all our Leader. Remember His distaste for the Jewish elite with their holier than thou arrogance? And though He was God incarnate, He never made much of Himself here on earth, but gave all the praise and glory to His Father. Friends, that’s the way we ought to be, if we want to call ourselves true followers of Christ. Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s stumped. I can’t come up with a brilliant opening that will just grab you and make you go ‘Wow!’ Then have you straining at your leash to devour the Bit. (smile) But it sure is wonderful to be alive, to be granted another day on earth to enjoy God’s goodness. For that I am eternally grateful and give Him much thanks and praise. And so should all who have the ability, the privilege to read these words. I did read an interesting comic strip where two women are talking about busy signals on phones. One says that was before all the technological junk we have now; blackberries, google, i-phones, twitter, facebook etc. The other retorts with a very telling comment, that people are too busy now to have a busy signal. Steups! But it’s no lie, for everybody is so busy doing what I don’t know. There’s only one friend I can call now whose phone will generate a busy signal if it’s occupied. All the others have call waiting, answering systems or something else, but no busy tones. But are we doing any better? No. Maybe quicker. And I’m not even sure of that for the inefficiency in the workplace these days is staggering, despite all these new fangled gadgets that are supposed to improve efficiency and productivity. We’ve become lazier and more sedentary from constantly sitting in front of a t.v or computer screen with a devastating rise in obesity that lack of physical activity promotes. And sadly, all these things are just leading to a ‘dumbing down’ of the younger generation. They might be technically astute, but very wanting in life skills, and in an age of endless information, not well informed. Anyway, that’s just the ole fella’s opinion, and it’s doubtful if the young uns will agree with me, while they’re running around texting, talking and multi-tasking, but really going nowhere fast. And yuh know what Friends, I will wisely accept the Preacher’s advice: ‘Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?’ Now that’s a very interesting question, but sadly, many of us still destroy ourselves for no apparent reason. Remember yesterday I said that some of us believers consider ourselves so holy and righteous when we’re the exact opposite? Well it’s that kind of excess the writer of Ecclesiastes is warning us about. We shouldn’t be overly righteous, but shun the sin of self-righteousness, where we behave like we’ve actually achieved righteousness or at least reached its apex. Oh my people, this can lead us to be very short-sighted, narrow minded, opinionated and all those pompous attitudes that are definitely not Christian-like. It’s like everything else in life; we should not over do it. The motto should be circumspection and moderation, because if you go around with this holier than thou attitude, turning up your nose at lowly sinners, of which you are really foremost, then all you’re doing is turning others off the gospel and Christ. The most offensive person you can ever meet is a know it all, self-righteous believer of any persuasion. Those who know all the doctrine and religious law and are active in many areas of the church, but quickly avert their eyes or pass by on the other side when they come upon someone truly needing help. As Sol warns: ‘Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.’ (Prov.25:16) Those are priceless words of wisdom Friends. We should not have or display a greedy attitude in anything. That’s like when we go to an all you can eat buffet and gorge ourselves just because we can eat as much as we want, then are terribly sick afterwards. The Preacher also brings up the other extreme, of being too evil. ‘Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?’ (Eccl.7:17) Now this in no way means that a moderate state of wickedness is acceptable. According to the scholars, it’s an accommodation to human weakness. The Preacher is saying to avoid the extreme of self-righteousness, but also restrain your inherently wicked nature so it doesn’t run its natural course and lead you down the broad highway of spiritual and moral ruin. Oh Friends, the whole exercise is just a basic law of not over doing, for there’s seldom any benefit in it, but it often breeds calamity. Bruh Paul puts it nicely when he advises the Romans. ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Rom.12:3) Yes Friends, arrogance and pomposity in a believer is unworthy of our Saviour. Sol put’s it sweet and short. ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’ (Prov.25:27) That leads to another wise scripture: ‘Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.’ (Prov.27:2) That means we shouldn’t blow our own trumpet, though in today’s world that doesn’t seem to cut it, for everybody seems to think they’re the greatest thing around. My people, if we truly want to follow Jesus, then we have to become like Him; humble and not making overly much of ourselves, for nobody likes a braggart or an arrogant person, least of all our Leader. Remember His distaste for the Jewish elite with their holier than thou arrogance? And though He was God incarnate, He never made much of Himself here on earth, but gave all the praise and glory to His Father. Friends, that’s the way we ought to be, if we want to call ourselves true followers of Christ. Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
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