Eccl. 12 - Short-Term Memory

A good quarterback has short-term memory. After throwing an interception, they need to forget that they did it and move on. If they can’t get it out of their mind, they’ll be too cautious or even hesitate. Since throwing a football is so much about timing, even the slightest hesitation can cause more mistakes.

We naturally have short-term memory in faith. That may be good for when we fall short, confess, and need to receive forgiveness avoiding a life of condemnation. But at times, our short-term memory hurts us; when we forget about God’s faithfulness and his goodness.

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" – Ecclesiastes 12:1

I read a book a few years ago called, “Dangerous Wonder”. It was about the time as a kid that our imagination ran wild. A time when we daydreamed more than we worried. A day when we really thought superman could fly.

Then we grew up. And learned that he couldn’t.

I think Solomon is calling us to remember the early days of our faith, a day when we did not doubt our Creator like sifting sand. A day when all we felt was hope in what could be, instead of doubt that it might not. A day when superman could still fly, and we just happened to know superman.

As we wrap up Ecclesiastes, I’m thinking about this pleasure and joy that Solomon speaks of, the fact that most (if not all) of us are chasing after it, yet many have not found it. I’m also thinking about the “knowledge” he refers to throughout the book. And that we typically have much less of it than we think as well.

What captures my mind is this relationship between knowledge and joy. It seems that knowledge almost tortures joy. It seems they have a love/hate relationship and simply coexist in a world separate one from another. Some of the smartest people I know are also the most tortured people I know. In the same way, some of the most joyful people I know... well.. aren't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I’ve heard it said, and at times agreed, that “ignorance is bliss”. Yet I think we’d all agree that it’s a different kind of bliss… the kind that most grownups would not be content with.

So where does wisdom come into the picture? It may indeed be the missing link between knowledge and joy. I think Charles Spurgeon said it right:

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” CS

Father, teach us to apply what we know. Don’t allow us to find contentment in just knowing. In the same way, don’t let us find contentment in bliss alone. It seems you’re already busy at doing both. So I guess I’m asking for this continued journey that each of us are on. Help us to see the intentional refining, the shaping, and the “becoming” in our adventure as Christ followers. Help us to find true joy and pleasure knowing that we’re on this path as a part of You making us who we need to be. Amen.

Eccl. 8 – Mind Map

We apply our minds in varying degrees. For our work, it seems the most natural, to apply them the most. We make much effort for our hobbies and likes. With our families, which might seem most intuitive and certainly most deserving, can often be the most neglected… and unfortunately our faith even beyond that.

“When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth—his eyes not seeing sleep day or night- then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.” – Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

Solomon applied his mind in observation of all that we do in order to make sense of it. What he found was that it could not be grasped because it’s understanding was in a realm only a heavenly king could comprehend. Our response?

“Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?" – Ecclesiastes 8:3-4

I can’t help but think about how different our concerns are as parents than they are as children. “No worries” comes to mind. My kids are oblivious to the concerns of this world, because they are unable to grasp them, are unconcerned if they could, and because they know I’m concerned about the big things for them. What if we could come to a place where we could see how temporal and ungraspable all this really is. And believe that there is one who does know, who really loves us, and who is in control. I would imagine that would bring a certain sense of peace, wouldn’t you say? Probably the peace we’ve been looking for.

It’s good to just let go. It’s good to be a child of the King.

Father, we apply our minds to many things. And most of the time they make us more worried than peaceful. If you help us to grasp anything, help us to remember that you are indeed in control, that you are indeed supreme, and that we can rest in these truths. Amen.