Ecclesiastes 8:14-17 says,...Bible reading week 9, day 3

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 8:14-17, which read,

v.14 - There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked.  On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.  I say that this too is futility.

Solomon is pointing out that life is not fair at times.  It doesn't look fair to us.  Sometimes those who are righteous, the good guys, get what the wicked, the bad guys are suppose to get and sometimes the wicked, the bad guys, get what the righteous, the good guys are suppose to get.  It is just the opposite of the way it should be in our eyes.  We come to the conclusion as Solomon did that this doesn't make sense and therefore life is messed up and futile.  Why try if we are not guaranteed the absolute solution to the situation that we deem should happen?

v.15 - So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun, except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

You could look at this verse in the negative to just chuck the whole righteous way of life and adopt the wicked way of life because the good guys lose in the end.  Your solution to follow is because this is vain in accordance to your definition of what is fair and what should happen that you will go with what seems to easy and not put yourself out to be righteous in an unrighteous world.  Join them and eat, drink, and be merry.  A cross reference to the negative is Luke 12:19-21, which read,

And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."  But God said to him, "You fool!  This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?"  So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

I think you could look at this verse in the positive to acknowledge that our world is not fair or seem fair and instead of living in despair and depression over it to continue to live righteously in the midst of it.  To recognize that God has given us these days to live and therefore we will have joy in them, no matter how many there are.  We acknowledge that the number of days that we have is not because of us but because of Him.  A cross reference to the positive is Ecclesiastes 2:24, which reads,

"There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.  This also I have seen that is from the hand of God."

v.16, 17 - When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun.  Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover.

Some more revelation time for Solomon.  He is connecting the dots on how the world works.  Even though it seems unfair at times and not the way he wants it to be doesn't mean it is not the way that it is suppose to be.  Just because it seems unfair doesn't give an excuse to be spiritually asleep instead of seeing God at work.  In his pursuit of wisdom, Solomon is actively seeking God while the world seems upside down.  He realizes that he is not going to have all the answers but still is to labor.  He can discover some things but not all things.  God has a place in his life because God is the One who makes sense of it all and the only One able to comprehend and be in control of it all.  

Does God have a place in your life?  Are you seeking wisdom and laboring for Him in the midst of a world that says to become your own god?  This world will tell you to take a nap on God and give up this pursuit and labor of glorifying Him to glorify yourself because it seems that those who glorifying themselves are having more fun and getting all the good stuff.  Righteousness has a value to Solomon that he can't shake in the midst of wickedness and he pushes God back into position as the One who has given him the number of days he will live.  How are you going to live those days?  Let us pray.

"Lord help us to keep faithful when it seems that the other side is winning or at least receiving what they shouldn't get.  Help us to keep You in Your rightful position in our lives so that confusion is not replaced with conformity to this world rather than conviction on Your love for us.  May each day given to us by You is a day to bring glory to You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam