Wisdom from Ecclesiastes

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--Ecclesiastes 3:1

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!
 
It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.
 
Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.
 
I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!  I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”
 
I guess they felt the same way about their system of justice back then too!


After reading Ecclesiastes, it would be easy to imagine that this writer, "the teacher" as he is called, suffered from severe depression.....and yet, if you can get through the weariness in its pages, there is much wisdom here. Though at first glance it seems to be filled with the ultimate futility of life, behind the words there is shining evidence of hope. Hope in God that is.

And there is even some very sound financial advice.....what investor would disagree with this?

Send your grain across the seas,and in time, profits will flow back to you. But divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

And this is some really good advice for people who tend to be worriers, like me.

When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

The man who had everything was indeed very wise, he realized that when all was said and done, even with all his wealth, all his stuff, all his palaces, and women, and vacations, that without God, it was pretty much worthless. And that even enjoyable stuff is much more enjoyable when you acknowledge your gratefulness to the God who gave it all to you.

all verses from the New Living Translation of the Bible