Daily Verse Devo - Ecclesiastes 12:11-14

"The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil."

-Ecclesiastes 12:11-14 (The Message)

These are the closing lines of Ecclesiastes, written by the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon.

If you've ever hung up a picture or completed a woodworking project, you can attest to the importance of nails. If the nail falls down, so does the picture. They hold things together. Likewise, words of wisdom holds our life together. Solomon says that wisdom comes from the Shepherd, God. We briefly touched on the idea of a Shepherd and the sheep hearing His voice in the Psalm 23 devotional.

I stumbled upon verse 12 a few years ago and can absolutely relate. You probably can also relate or have at some point in life. As a college student and aspiring author, writing books is exhausting and much study indeed wears me out.

Don't get me wrong, Solomon isn't dissing books or studying. I think he's saying that there is so much "knowledge" out there in books that it would take forever to study it all. While there's nothing wrong with seeking knowledge, it's best to spend time pursuing godly wisdom. When we listen to God's voice, we can be sure that what He says is true and helpful. Discerning other voices is an exhaustive process and God has written everything we truly need to know for life in His word.

Solomon's last piece of advice, as Eugene Peterson paraphrases, is "Fear God. Do what He tells you."

That is what life is all about.

God knows everything. Even the things we do in secret or with a wrong motive, God knows it. That idea can sound scary and a little like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, but it's meant to encourage us to live right. When we spend our lives loving God and obeying Him, we have nothing to be ashamed of. When we accept Jesus as Savior, His blood covers our sins and He cleanses us of all wrongdoings (1 John 1:9).

What an awesome finale to a book questioning the purpose of life! The purpose is ultimately to fear God. Wealth, fame, and even knowledge are vain pursuits. Wisdom will help us get through life by teaching us to fear the Lord and obey Him.

#writing #study #wisdom #knowledge #solomon