Author: Ben Bourland

Ben’s QTVOTD – “Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 ->me: Verses 7-9 discuss several different ways a wise man can become a fool.  1) He can use his influence and power to extort or oppress others. 2) He can become proud in spirit through a trial by not setting his sights on the outcome by asking “Why should I have to wait to see what You are going to do God?”  3) He can become so angry and exasperated that he becomes resentful.  In the bible, bosom represents the most inner part of a man.  These are great reminders for what to watch out for as I move forward in my hope for eternity.  I can see failures in my life today in each one of these warnings.  I must not only be respectful but also humble in areas of authority I am given, whether that be as a boss, husband, father, or spiritual leader.  I must remind myself that as a follower of Jesus, God works all of my trials and tribulations to an outcome of good.  I must be conscious of my tendency to become exasperated with my girls, insults that come my way, or frustrated by unmerited treatment.  Lord help me through Your Holy Spirit to be aware of these pitfalls so that I may have the opportunity to course correct.

“It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.  For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!” Ecclesiastes 7:5-6 ->me: There have been some events in my life where this has hit a little too close to home lately.  The ‘song of a fool’ here represents flattering praise.  I should stop and think for a moment about what the fool is praising me for…is it something I really want to be getting praise for?  The fool’s hierarchy of priorities and judgement should give me pause.  Even when I am striving to be who I should be in the Lord, a correction by someone wise in my life can be infuriating.  1) Have I surrounded myself with wise people or have I isolated myself because I just want to live in my self-sufficient bubble?  Do I give people I consider wise permission to confront me?  2) When I am confronted with a wise rebuke am I heeding the counsel; do I stop for a moment to appreciate the courage and love of the person willing to put themselves in the possible line of fire to tell me what I need to hear?  Even if don’t immediately agree or see the truth, am I committing to pray and seek the Lord in His word on the issue?  Operating this way has shown to be very humbling but oh so powerful in allowing God to use those closest to me to be a part of my sanctification process.  Thank you Lord for these courageous and special people in my life…’people’, you know who you are.  🙂

Ben’s QTVOTD – “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth and sensual joy.” Ecclesiastes 7:4 ->me: I need to keep eternity in mind – not obsess or worry (God tells us not to worry) but to weigh my impulses and desires in light of my mortality before indulging in them.  At my age I feel like I have wasted a good portion of my possible impact for God’s Kingdom; but that should only encourage me to push hard now.  I know many “fools” -> those who expend a lot of energy to give themselves what they want – much through partying.  No sooner are they back from one bender before they are talking about prep for the next one.  I feel there is still so much I can do.  I have a lot of fun investing in people.  Our Life Group nights feel like a party -> we eat, we share, we laugh, and we are there for each other while we learn more about what God says about our relationships.  This is the focus – invest in the eternal aspects of those in my sphere of influence.  It really isn’t about what I want or being accepted by man – it’s about what God wants and showing everyone I can that God accepts them how they are IN CHRIST.

“For who [limited to human wisdom] knows what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow [going through the motions but accomplishing nothing]? For who can tell a man what will happen [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun after he is gone?” Ecclesiastes 6:12 ->me: The Preacher is really driving home 2 points. 

1. The ungodly have no clue what shall be after them or what will be the eternal events revealed from all the work they have done.
2. The ungodly don’t really know what is “good” during this life. 

Men have no wisdom in themselves and there is no other earthly man they can receive help from.  The Preacher is essentially slamming every door but the door of faith.  Living by faith is the only answer – In he Preacher’s time Jesus had not come, the Holy Spirit had not been sent, and there was no access to God the Father except through ceremonial cleansing and atonement through sacrifices made by High Priests every year.  The Lord has given me so much in His Son, the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and access to the Father through my Savior who sits at His right hand.  I have everything that can deliver me from the angst of the human condition!  Last but not least I have the Word of God that gives me a clear measuring stick for what is “good”.  The answer is clear – it is so obvious to me now why God included Ecclesiastes in the canon of His word.

“For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk before the living [publicly, with men’s eyes upon him; being poor is not the secret to happiness either]?  Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it!” Ecclesiastes 6:8-9  ->me:  Today was a looonnnngg day.  First we missed our flight to SoCal this morning (10:20am departure | we tried to drop our bags at 9:35am and they said we missed the cutoff).  Ok, so now we are now on the 12:10pm flight.  Well, because the Blue Angels had taken up airspace restrictions because of the weather our 12:10pm flight was delayed until 2:50pm.  Why am I telling you all of this?…because this would normally send me through the roof.  I would have been angry, frustrated, bitter, and a total bear to be with; but not today.  The Lord brought a peace over me from the moment they said we missed our flight.  I just knew that there was some reason this needed to happen today.  We actually had a nice time and because we wore Prim out she pretty much just slept on me most of the trip.  God is good.  Through Ecclesiastes the Lord is reinforcing the need for me to depend on Him to be the all in all in my life.  Today was a great day only because I finally get that He is in control and what happened…happened because He allowed it to happen.

“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is for one to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun all the days which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] part.  Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God [to him].” Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 ->me:  Before this verse there are 8 verses (10-17) that characterize the secular pursuit of wealth -> self-damaging, sorrowful, days of vexation, and loss of sleep.  God gives  a different kind of wealth and power -> the wealth and power of enjoyment.  Our choice rests in the acceptance of the style of life God apportions to us and the God-given nature of all wealth.  I must be in control of my attitude to wealth rather than my attitude of wealth being in control of me (Philippians 4:12-13).  The worldly person may live a life of drudgery; but for the God-centered man it will be very different.  It is not that a God-centered life will be so quiet that nothing memorable happens but that life will be so preoccupied with hope in eternity with Him that the vanity of life will be almost forgotten.  Not entirely forgotten since life’s brevity is still kept in mind, but not so much so as to lose sleep.  God, help me to control my attitude toward earthly provisions.  You have blessed my family and I with so much – help me to continually stay engaged in your plan to gather to yourself the lot of nations before your Son returns.  My problems are so small compared to the solution of Your grace and mercy.

Ben’s QTVOTD – “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with gain. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)! When goods increase, they who eat them increase also. And what gain is there to their owner except to see them with his eyes?” Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 ->me: Wow – this is super applicable to the discussion I was having with a co-worker who also happens to be a great friend, and man of God. We were talking about the struggles of pursuing desires in our career in a self-sufficient way rather than leaning on the Lord to show us the path He has set before us. We were thinking back to our early careers and how we push push push for the next promotion only to find that the next promotion was almost within reach. We also talked about the difference between God given desires of the heart and covetousness for what we see in the experiences, skillsets, or activities of other people. Contentment is not the absence of desire but the absence of ‘the need for more’. Have you ever played with a magnet to see how close you could get it to a ferrous object before it snapped to it? I believe our desires are like a magnet – they are set and ready to married to the purposes and will God has for us but we can get reckless with how close we get that desire to things this world pushes in front of us. Once that desire is snapped to a worldly option it may block the super ferrous nugget God had for you. Hold onto your desires but don’t let the over aggressiveness of fulfilling those desires clog up your magnet before the Lord has brought along what He has for you.

“When you vow a vow or make a pledge to God, do not put off paying it; for God has no pleasure in fools (those who witlessly mock Him). Pay what you vow.  It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.” Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 ->me: I did a lot of reading across the Thompson Chain reference on ‘Vows’ (Examples of, Sacred, etc.)  A couple of things are very clear.  Vows are voluntary.  Vows are a sign of dedication to the Lord and acknowledgement that He is Lord of your life.  Making vows is serious business and when you make a vow to the Lord, you must pay it and pay it in short order; as this passage warns.  God takes pleasure in those who make and return on their vows to Him.  A vow can be a promise to do something.  It can be a dedication of my children or fruits of my labor.  It can be a statement of allegiance to do something in my life for God (think of the call and answer to be a pastor or missionary). I must be careful -> I must know and believe the vow I am making is something I can complete.  There is a danger in using vows as bribery to the Lord for Him to do something.  However, I have seen examples in the bible where someone has said -> Lord if you do this I will do that…and it happens (Numbers 21:2).  The one time I did this was when Marianne was in the hospital and not is good shape with the Hanta Virus.  I made some vows then that I am just now following through on.

“For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool’s voice with many words.” Ecclesiastes 5:3 ->me:  This verse follows yesterday’s verse on being concise in your prayer and in reverence of Who God is.  Today’s verse caught me off guard because the first part about ‘dreaming’ is exactly what I do!!!! What the first part of this verse is saying is that it is likely that impatience in prayer can be due to a ‘multitude of business’ going on in one’s mind (causing daydreaming).  Heavy responsibility is going to hinder a person’s concentration and lead to impatience in prayer.  When I recognize this most, in my own life, is when I am driving home from work.  Usually I listen to a John Piper or Tony Evans sermon on the way into work and then ‘try’ and pray on the way home.  However, there are days (many) where I can’t concentrate on my prayer to save my life.  My mind keeps jumping to this and that; right in the middle of me praying.  I catch myself saying ‘Stop it, Ben!! Concentrate! Lord, please forgive me for not giving You my full attention.”  Moving forward I plan to swap these things around -> pray on the way to work and listen to a sermon on the way home.  This has the added benefit of saturating my mind at the beginning of the day, in communion with the Almighty, so that I can be prepared by putting on the full armor.

“Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2 ->me: Careless words are a reflection of the inner life; it is the heart that speaks forth a word.  Heaven is a reminder to us of God’s greatness -> the location of His glory.  Even the Lord’s Prayer in Mark 11:35 says to pray “our Father Who is in heaven…”.  Thinking before I pray is huge and I also try to correct immediately if I sense I am being different with my words than what I feel in my heart.  Here are the things I ask myself -> Is what I am saying in my prayer true to what is in my heart and what I know to please the Lord?  Am I using wit or buzz words to impress God or others (…put a hedge of protection around…rather than the normal way to say -> God please protect them).  Am I limiting God by questioning His actions or allowing something to happen?  So, here are my thoughts on prayer:  Let the Holy Spirit do the intercession on my behalf.  Get the words as close to the truth (good or bad) of what’s in my heart.  Humble myself in acknowledgement the He is so much greater and all-knowing than me.  What is best for me is what God wills.  I should make requests but acknowledge that what He chooses is ultimately what I want.