Ecclesiastes

I was reading my Bible this morning. I did as I sometimes do and just opened my bible and began to read the words on the page. Sometimes they have a significance and sometimes I just read them and pray. Today, they hit me like a ton of bricks.

Have you ever had times when the Lord just "grabs" you and "shakes" you? Do you ever feel that He is trying to tell you something and you want to do it but selfish desires get in the way? That's how I feel sometimes! My husband has said in a sermon once, "You must put away selfish desires EVERY DAY. You must get up each morning and make that decision." I have that decision to make. I, and no one else, is responsible for ME.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
"1) Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. 2) Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; Therefore let your words be few."

I only read verse 2 at first, then I happened to go back and read verse one. I am not a bible scholar like my husband. But, I am going to tell you what these verses mean to me.

I do not think the word "walk" in verse one is to be taken lightly. It means, like my husband says, to decide every day to Walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Then it goes on to say, "draw near to hear rather than give". So many of the modern Christian churches just want to get people in the door. They are more out to please the people than pleasing the Lord. Youth groups, contemporary worship, coffee shops. Whatever they think the people want, then they want to do it.

"What can the church do for me and my family," is also what many churchgoers think. They've got it all wrong. Many places in the bible teach that the "church" is not for what we get out of it! It is for the Glory and Worship of our Lord and God! We should desire to "draw near to hear."

Then it goes on to say, "Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God."

I have struggled with this all my life. It's not an excuse though. It hasn't been until recently that I even "cared" to control it. I knew my mouth got me in trouble more than I cared but I excused it as "my personality."

"It's who I am," or "I've always been like this. It's too hard to change now."

Well, neither one of those is going to "fly" with the Lord. He's not going to judge me by how my mother or daughter acted. He's not going to compare me with anyone other than Jesus. And, that is very sobering. It is NOT what I was taught growing up. And it is NOT who I want to continue to be.

"Therefore let your words be few."

Oh My! I think this one is one I have been trying to incorporate into my life the most. It's the one I struggle with the most. My husband will tell me, "Spit it out, Michele!" I've had a friend tell me more than once, "To sum it all up...." I have a tendancy to tell the whole story so that you get the picture. That is not always necessary. In MOST cases, it is not necessary.

Lord, please forgive me for not being the child of God I should be. Please help me to Walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Help me to have few words. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

As I type this, I am thinking, "That's enough, Michele."