8-14-12. Ecclesiastes 10:1-20. WORDS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE WISE-Devotional

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF           Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Ecclesiastes 10:1-20    Key Verse: 10:1o

“If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.”

Dear Lord, thank you for providing a good night’s sleep and the opportunity to work on several projects I have going on. I pray that today may be a fruitful day and I may accomplish much for your glory. Help me to reveal your glorious and wonderful work going on in Uganda with the people in the USA. Lord, help me to apply myself to teaching and preaching the gospel here in DeKalb and NIU. Help me to make a new beginning preaching and teaching the Bible to NIU students. Please grant me one word of God through this passage. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: More Strength is Needed (1-11).

It seems that in this world folly seems to make more of a difference in the affairs of people. Look at verses 1-7, “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left. 3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are. 4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: 6 Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. 7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.” Wisdom and honor are at a disadvantage in comparison with folly, which produces disproportionately large effects. The heart of the wise is always at odds with the heart of the fool. A fool’s way is more evident (3).

In Uganda, as in most countries, there is a problem with corruption. It seems that corruption reaches the top of society. Corrupt practices seem to be keeping the lower strata of society in a state of hopelessness. I always wondered why the corrupt seem to prosper and get to the top of the heap easier than the righteous. Why are there so many Christians among the common people and yet they have so little influence at the top, where they should be influencing and leading the people. I think it has to do with the concept that the person with the biggest gun gets to lead. People who are prone to corruption are those who are willing to steal the power and authority.

It also has to do with temptation. When you reach the top, there are more opportunities to make money and gain some benefits from your position. And though a Christian may make it to the top of society there is a chance they become compromised and corrupted in order to gain some benefit or to keep their position. If they do not become corrupt themselves they may become silent in order to keep their position. If a Christian is to make a difference at the top, they must be willing to loose it all. They must be willing to suffer loss and stand alone. That is why it is harder to be a servant of God while seated at the top of society. That is why Christians have less influence at the top. There are so few servants of God who can stand as servants of God in those positions. But those who do can make a world of difference. That is why, in UBF, we pray that university graduate may make a stand for Jesus in the top positions of society and make a difference in their nations. I pray that I may make a difference in the positions that God has placed me in.

What then should the wise do in the face of the powerful influence of the foolish? Verses 4, 8-11, “4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest. …8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success. 11 If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee.”

When folly manifests itself in high places, the course of wisdom is calmness. We need patience and we need to uphold the truth of God and pray. If we receive opposition, do not leave your assigned post in life. Pray and endure. God wants to use you for a great and wonderful purpose. We must discover how to live by the truth and present the Gospel in wise ways and pray. Then we can glorify Jesus and we can we can be an advocate for the poor and we can help promote the grace and truth and justice of Jesus across society.

We must be wise when we get involved and when we do not (8-11). There are times when we must get involved. But we also know that when we do get involved there will be some risks to take. This should not dissuade us from doing what we must do however. We need to proceed with caution and lots of prayer and be willing to pay the price if we are called to do so. Martin Luther King Jr did such a thing when called to stand in a high place and fight to end racial discrimination. It cost him his life, but he was willing to do so.

We can also keep our ax sharpened and our skills at chopping wood sharp. We can build our skills. That is what we are doing when we give our hearts to Bible study and prayer and preaching and teaching and honing our skills at raising disciple of Jesus. It takes a daily toil in the work of the Lord, which is a joyful and satisfying work. I need to sharpen my own spiritual ax. Billy Graham tells us how through his 2010 interview. It states, “If Graham had the opportunity to live his life over again, he said there are things he would do differently.

“I would study more. I would pray more, travel less, take less speaking engagements. I took too many of them in too many places around the world,” he said. “If I had it to do over again, I’d spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord how much I love Him and adore Him and [am] looking forward the time we’re going to spend together for eternity.” …….

Graham passed along some advice to young preachers. “Spend more time in study and prayer. That’s the secret of successful evangelism,” he said. “If you neglect that, you’ve neglected the very heart of God’s call to you.’”

I need to repent of trying to chop wood with a dull ax and sharpen my ax and become an effectual servant of the Lord.

Part 2: Idle Hands And Words (12-20).

Verses 12-15, “12 Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. 13 At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness— 14 and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming—who can tell someone else what will happen after them? 15 The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.” Words can be gracious or can get one in trouble. Too much confidence in one’s words can lead to wickedness and can hurt others. Though someone may know many things, his actions may not match (15).

God made is with two eyes and two ears and only one mouth. We must use them proportionally. We must let our words be few and our actions must speak louder than words. We need to focus on Jesus and the words of God and the wisdom of God in the Bible as we formulate our words. We need to stay away from foolish arguments and quarrels about words. May God grant me his wisdom to speak, depending on the wisdom of God. May I not just get into a flurry of words that have no meaning and only hurt others. May my words promote healing and edification and peace among the hearers. May God’s wisdom be evident in my actions.

The land whose government is ruled by fools suffers many ills. Verses 16-20, “Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks. 19 A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. 20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.” We need good leaders, not just leaders who are there to milk the system for their own benefit and pleasures. A leader must truly be a civil servant. A leader must not be lazy. I am a leader in my family. I need to be diligent and lead my family spiritually. I need to be a good leader in raising up disciples among college students. I need to be diligent practically also. I need to repair the electrical lines in my house. I need to clean the yard and finish off the renovations. I need to do all kinds of things. But I can not do all of these things if I am not diligent and a good spiritual leader in my household.

Prayer: Lord, grant me wisdom that my words may be gracious and my hands useful. Also grant me the will and the strength to stand up in influential areas as a servant of the Lord and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices.

One Word: The righteous can thwart the destructive influence of the foolish.