MAY 2

Ecclesiastes 4:5-6
Memorise Proverbs 15:16
“Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail”

In contrast to those who work hard, there are, on the other extreme, those who are slothful and refuse to raise a finger to help even himself! The description given here is one who simply folds his hands. This is a picture of one who is permanently sleeping (Proverbs 6:10, 24:33: “yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep”), and refuses to get up to find himself food to eat. Lying there, he will get hungry but because of his extreme sloth, he resorts to eating his own flesh rather than getting up to work and earn a living!

Is this a description of some of us? How many of us can just laze the whole day away on the bed, or in front of the computer doing meaningless things? How many weeks and months of school holidays have we just whiled away in empty pursuit of pleasure? We may not physically eat our hands, but realise that our lives are being eaten away by our lazy inactivity.

After comparing these two states (the honest man who becomes the subject of envy and the slothful man who wastes his life), Solomon concludes in verse 6, that moderation is the best solution. He says that it is better to live a simple life, away from all the opulence and luxuries of the world, but work hard, having a handful of things to do rather than going all out to grasp all that the world has to offer, for this will only end in travail and vexation of spirit. There is nothing wrong with working hard and earning money and, if the Lord blesses, sometimes a man may become very rich. However, he is to take it as it comes and enjoy what he has with quietness. He should not show off and be very ostentatious about his wealth, such that he becomes the envy of others. The idea is similar to the advice he gives in Proverbs 15:16-17: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.”

Dear Teen, what are you doing with your life? Do you realise that each hour you have is a gift from God and ought to be gainfully used for the Lord? Instead of wasting your time playing the latest mobile phone game or lazing in bed, why don’t you pick up a Christian book to read, or study a passage of the Bible? Or perhaps you could spend it in prayer with the Lord?

Thought: How many hours have I wasted today?
Prayer: Lord, may You help me to be wise and to redeem the time because the days are evil.