Ecclesiastes 10:1-4 says,...Bible reading week 11, day 3

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 10:1-4, which read,

v.1 - Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

Those pesky flies.  At this time of year you find them dead on the window sills.  They bother you by buzzing your head and they are attracted to what you are trying to eat.  They hover over whatever is sweet like the perfumer's oil and then land but to their death and therefore decompose and corrupt what was meant to please.  They make things unusable.  They are little but the little overpowers the big item.

Solomon is using the smallness of the fly to represent foolishness and how it effects the weightier and larger in important item of wisdom and honor.  A little foolishness contaminants what should be the sweet smelling soothing oil of wisdom.  What wisdom was suppose to do, it can't because a little foolishness has come into the picture.  We are preoccupied with this little bit of foolishness.  Our attention is upon it.  We allow it to become our focus and therefore the fly of foolishness has more weight in our minds than watching over the oil of wisdom.  How many times have you had your focus on what was foolish at the detriment of what was wise?  Know the nature and goal of the foolishness is to divert you for just a time, they say, or it won't hurt anyone, and it spoils the batch of wisdom you have been working on.

v.2 - A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left.

Not a slam to any "lefties" out there but this might be where we get that thought that right is better than left.  The right hand has been promoted as the most dominant, most used, most skillful and therefore relied upon more than the left.  If it is really heavy, I pick it up with my right hand if I can't use both.  This is a proverb like in the Book of Proverbs that states a common truth that the wise go to the reliable and trustworthy in practice rather than the foolish who go toward the weaker position and shaky at times.

We have a decision point like the two roads in the woods and the traveler takes the one less traveled.  It is like the narrow and wide road or the narrow and wide gates.  Our lives are filled with a bunch of these decisions where wisdom and foolishness are presented to us and we have to decide if we are going to the right or to the left.  I think the main word in this verse is the word "heart."  We need to be concerned about what is in our hearts or what we put into our hearts or what our hearts are focused upon.  Our hearts dictate our actions.  Don't check the results of your decision, right or left, but go deep and check out your heart where that decision originated from.  

v.3 - Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool. 

Sometimes fools hide in the crowd.  They are walking along with the wise on the same road but if they are not transformed to follow God and Him alone, it will come out somewhere along the trek.  They may look the part and have all the right gear but their falsehood of not being totally sold out to God will emerge many times when a decision is presented to serve self or to serve others.  He or she might be pulling the wool over your eyes for a time but God sees clearly and foolish actions will rise to the surface for others to see too.

Proverbs 13:16 says,

Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.

Proverbs 18:2 says,

A fool does not delight in understanding, but only wants to show off his opinions.

A fool is all talk and no action.  A fool is the fly buzzing around saying "look at me" before he or she dive bombs into the situation to spoil the perfumer's oil.  Keep your eyes on the road you are on and remember that there will be others on the road who are false teachers, false followers, and false flamboyant travelers trying to get your attention.

v.4 - If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.

This is a great verse.  Keeping on the truth and keeping on the path of wisdom is not easy.  There will be times when people get made at you for following after the wisdom of God.  What will you do when their tempers arise against you?  Will you change your position?  Will you let your anger rise to match theirs?  This verse tells us of the fact of opposition or misunderstanding at the least to those who are wise and fear God.  This verse also tells us to not abandon what we know is truth given to us by God in His Word, the Bible.  We are to hold onto the truth with composure and allow the truth to do its work.  Many times we compromise when the heat is turned up or we match intensity to what is being displayed when the more powerful thing to do is to stay humble and keep on point.

I remember a time in our third church when the snow plow guy came into the church raging mad because the parking lot had already been plowed after a night of heavy snow.  We knew that his wife had went into the hospital that night and so we had someone from the church take care of the lot so that he wouldn't have to.  He thought he was being replaced or maybe the weight of the income he was planning on receiving wasn't going to be there.  He as making all kinds of very loud accusations at me prior to the service.  The temptation was to match his tone.  The temptation was to let him go because he was showing how difficult he could be.  But the truth is the discussion was made to keep plowing the lot for him and pay him for it until he got his wife back home and settled.  It took a bit to get him settled down to say that but when it was allowed to come out it calmed him right down and tears began to flow.  What started as a heated discussion ended in a time of prayer for his dear wife.  I give you a positive example of this from my life but know that there are plenty of negative one where I didn't head the wisdom given here by Solomon.  Let us pray.

"Lord, we allow a little foolishness, like the little fly, get our attention away from what is truly weightier in our spiritual lives.  We have not done a heart check and let it become corrupt with foolish things that come out in our actions.  Those actions will be made known to others especially when the heat is turned up.  Help us to see that a good guard of what is in our hearts is how we respond when things are tough.  Help us to keep to the truth and keep a composure that glorifies You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam