Shame on us if we ever underestimate the power of words, whether spoken, inscribed, texted, or typed. But we often forget how significant words are until they effect us. It’s easy to speak an idle word or give a command with far-reaching implications, but when an idle word or command (or any other category of words) impacts me, that’s when I begin to understand it.
Tag: Old Testament
Day 37: Ecclesiastes 7:19-20
“Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers of the city. For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.”
“Wisdom strengthens the wise,” just as muscle strengthens a body-builder or money strengthens the rich. But I think it may be more than just quantity that generates strength.
Day 36: Ecclesiastes 7:15-18
These verses talk about both the unfairness of life, but also the importance of living righteously and wisely despite the disparity that exists.
Verse 15 says, “There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.”
So true, so true. Many godly people die at an early age while extremely wicked people live long. But the opposite is always true. But it still seems unfair how some people die young after living godly lives while others do damage in the world and live to be old.
Day 35: Ecclesiastes 7:13-14
Another reminder of the sovereignty of God. There is no way to change what God does or “correct” Him. “For who can make straight what He has made crooked?” (7:13) “In the day of prosperity be joyful.”
Day 34: Ecclesiastes 7:11-12
“Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and profitable to those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.”
Both money and wisdom are desirable and powerful. It is not ideal to just have money; wisdom and discretion for how to use it are just as important. Wisdom is especially good for those who have a right perspective on life, “those who see the sun.”
