ESOCS Devotional 26 October 2024 – Strength of Wisdom
MEMORY VERSE: “Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless, the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”Ecclesiastes 9:16
TEXT: ECCLESIASTES 9:1-16
For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them. 2 All things come alike to all:
One event happens to the righteous and the wicked;
To the good, the clean, and the unclean;
To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice.
As is the good, so is the sinner;
He who takes an oath as he who fears an oath.
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy,
And drink your wine with a merry heart;
For God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your garments always be white,
And let your head lack no oil.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11 I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.
12 For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.
13 This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me: 14 There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. 15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.
16 Then I said:
“Wisdom is better than strength.
Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised,
And his words are not heard.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
The first is that wisdom is more important than strength. Strength is helpful, but unless you know how to use it, it is wasted. Another statement I’ve come to embrace as I’ve gotten older is work smarter, not harder. I’ve discovered that young people tend not to embrace this phrase, as much as older people. Why? Because as you get older, your body cannot endure as much abuse, and it hurts for a lot longer. As I’ve worked with older guys, I’ve seen that they tend to take a bit more time to think things through, rather than just rushing into a job headlong and assuming they can muscle their way through it.
Universally, taking the time to think and plan the best way to approach something ends up making the job a lot easier and much more enjoyable. That’s the same thing we see in this story. A great army came and besieged a tiny town. This great army had all the power on their side. The odds were stacked against this tiny town, but then one man (who was poor, which shows that wisdom and riches do not always go hand-in-hand) knew what to do to save the town. We aren’t told what his plan was because it really doesn’t matter. What we are told, however, is that the town was rescued. His plan worked! Wisdom overcame the might of a much larger army. The lesson for us here is that we should spend more time seeking wisdom than we do power. Most people want to put themselves in positions of power but fail to realize that unless you know how to wield that power effectively, you are dangerous. It’s like giving a child a machete and asking him to clear a bush path Sure, he may have the potential to do some significant work but will more likely do significant damage. Great wisdom can make up for a lack of power. And power without wisdom is dangerous. So, we should work to gain wisdom.
The second principle is that wisdom may not garner us praise. Though this man saved his city, the people forgot about him and no one thanked him. Solomon says that people appreciate you more if you are rich than if you are wise. Sadly, we know this to be true. The most popular figures in our culture are those with lots of money, not necessarily (and often not) those with the greatest wisdom. Wisdom is not the right tool to win a popularity contest, and not necessarily even to gain friends. People appreciate wisdom when they think they need it; but otherwise, they are happy to ignore it. We should be prepared to offer our help to others without worrying about whether we receive appropriate thanks. We can do this because we know that God will one day reward us for doing what is right, even if no one else ever seems to notice it.
- If you lack wisdom, pray God to give you and He will do it abundantly.
- Lord, give me the wisdom to excel in every area of my life.
Further Reading: Proverbs 30:15-31; Luke 22:47-62; 2 Corinthians 9:1-end
ESOCS Devotional 26 October 2024
