Today’s Reading:
Ecclesiastes 5:8-20
“Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried through the land. For every official is under orders from higher up and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. Even the king milks the land for his own profit. 10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness, the more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So, what good is wealth except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers.’ People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver, Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing – like working for the wind. throughout their lives, they live under a cloud – frustrated, discouraged, and angry. Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. and it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life – this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.” (Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 NLT)
In today’s reading as is the custom of Solomon, he dealt with many issues of life that are relevant to us today. He reminds us that injustice should not surprise us. There is a hierarchy of authorities from whom redress should be sought (vv. 8, 9). Powerful people tend to take charge and use their power to intimidate the poor. They control a territory, a nation, or a continent, and they may later become the lawmaker. Time after time, the rules and bureaucracy get so thick that the voices of the poor are not heard any more. This sounds like halls of governance. The higher governing officials become, the more they lose sight of the needs of the very poor people they should be serving and some of these officials take unfair advantage to amass wealth (vv. 8, 9). This is unfair and corrupt! The irony of life is that, as riches increase, so are a person’s dependents who will consume it. The love for money can never be satisfied. But high above all human systems of justice is the Supreme Court of God – our final and efficacious court of appeal (3:17).
The insight of the author here is that, while we may not be able to change our lot in life, at least, we can change our reaction to things. We can learn to see our lives from God’s perspective and use the disadvantages of yesterday for positive ways today, and forever. This does not imply that we forget opportunities to positively affect governance. Simply put, we should shun self-pity, revenge, and resentment. In our disadvantaged situations, we search for God’s advantages. In life, we are encouraged to do things in moderation, enjoy whatever good you have to the full, for as long as you live (v. 18).
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the gifts of life you have bestowed upon each and every one of us, in Jesus name.
Help me to be conscious in whatever I do, that one day, I will give an account of my stewardship here, on earth, in Jesus name.
Father, fill me with your LOVE to overflowing and with the fear of you, in whatever I do, in Jesus name.
Father, empower and help me to leave a print in the sand of my time, in Jesus name.
May the grace of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit overshadow the body of Christ, in Jesus name.
May the body of Christ not lose her mandate in Christendom, in Jesus name.
Give us God fearing leaders in our nation and heal our land, in Jesus name.
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