Tues.’s Devo - Wisdom

Read: Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 22:17-19
Solomon compares a good name to perfume. Both are intangible but leave a good remembrance. Since everyone’s destiny is death, it is wise to consider it and not run from the fact that your life is short and every minute is important. It is not wise to look back and think the past was better than the future. God always saves the best for last.
Solomon instructs us not to live in extremes. We are to be well balanced. There are some things we will never figure out. Righteous people die young while wicked people live long lives. This doesn’t make sense to our theology, but God is bigger than our theology and is past finding out. Solomon noticed it too; he saw righteous men getting what the wicked deserved and wicked men getting what the righteous deserve. The consolation in this is Judgment Day where the righteous will receive rewards and the wicked will be condemned to hell.
Since we have no idea when our last day will be, we should do what Solomon suggests: whatever our hand finds to do, do it with all our might because there is no working after we leave.
At the end Solomon tells about a poor man who saved a city with his wisdom. Once the people were safe, they didn’t honor or remember the poor man. This is the way of the world, but God writes down every deed we do and it is recorded in heaven where the last will be first and the first will be last.
Paul praises the Corinthian church because of their response to his discipline. By the time Titus got there, they had so repented and gotten the church in order that Titus was pleased to report their obedience.
Lord, may we walk in wisdom and obedience.