Daily Devotionals

Devotional: August 22nd

For Reading and Meditation:
     Ecclesiastes 9:13-18

Solomon addresses avoiding getting caught in the rat race by putting it in a story. Imagine, he says, a small city with only a few people in it. Suddenly an invading army surrounds the city and besieges it. Inside it is a wise but poor man who comes up with an idea that saves the city. When the city was saved, the poor man was forgotten. The punch line is this: "Wisdom is better than strength" (v. 16). Strength is more impressive than wisdom, but in the long run wisdom is more effective. One writer says of this parable: "It is not a moral tale to show what people should do, but a cautionary tale to show what they are like." People easily forget or overlook the importance of wisdom, and Solomon is reminding us so that we are not surprised when it happens. The way of the world is this - be strong, be smart, be clever, be competitive. But when trouble strikes and people are under threat, they are ready to listen to wise words that get them out of trouble. Then, when the crisis is over, they forget what they heard and go back to being strong again. Enemy forces surround us. We are under threat. Marriages are crumbling, and the moral ropes that once held us so fast and firm are now frayed or burning. We have a book called the Bible which contains the wisdom the world needs. We must draw more attention to it. People may listen, or they may not, but that is not our responsibility. We must speak so that God can work.

Father, I realize that if wisdom is to come through me then it must first reside in me. Make me a man or woman of the Book. May my mind be soaked in the wisdom of Scripture so that, when I speak, my words become Your words. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.

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