JUN 14

Ecclesiastes 10:8-10
Memorise Proverbs 20:4
“wisdom is profitable to direct”

Next we see a description of foolish men who do things to their own destruction. The descriptions are almost comical, as we see some of the silly, futile things that man does when he does not exercise practical wisdom. Solomon observes these sort of things going on about him, and he lists them out to illustrate an important principle. He observes a man who digs a pit and falls into it; he disturbs a bush and is bitten by a serpent; he tries to shift stones and is hurt by it; he chops trees and places his life in danger. These are examples of folly in the very practical things in life, where a bit of common sense would solve one’s problems. Probably it was the manner in which all these mundane activities were wrong, as is revealed in verse 10, for if an axe-head is blunt, instead of continuing to try to chop the tree and use up more energy in the process, simply sharpen the edge and the whole process will become much easier.

This is the common sense in life which wise men would have, and thus having wisdom, it will be profitable in his life to direct his ways. The problem is one of laziness and procrastination, for a simple remedy would make things much better, but they cannot be bothered to do so.

Dear teen, is this how we sometimes live our lives? We seek just the convenience and enjoyment of short-term gratification. We procrastinate and put off important tasks, simply because it is easier to laze around and wait for deadlines to come before we finally get down to work. We cannot be bothered with doing simple things daily, like getting our filing done, or packing our rooms, or revising our work, simply because we find doing things like watching the TV, playing some games or surfing the internet so much more enjoyable for the present. Such behaviour is no different from the man who will not take the time to sharpen his axe before he goes out to chop wood. A small effort at the beginning would have saved him so much problems, but in his folly, he neglected to do so, until it was too late. This is much like how we neglect our revisions, until shortly before the final examinations, and then we start to panic and regret the many hours we had wasted before. May we all learn this simple but important lesson of having practical wisdom in the small things in life.

Thought: Short-term gratification, or long term success – the choice is ours to make.
Prayer: Lord, grant me the wisdom and discipline to live right!