THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
Sam was working in the furniture manufacturing plant. He tripped and fell on the upholstery machine.
The last I heard, he was fully recovered.
______________________________________________________________________________________
________SCRIPTURE____________________________________________________________________
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
KJV
______________________________________________________________________________________
_______THOUGHT______________________________________________________________________
Here, the subject is REAL WORSHIP. Solomon mentions three different things about how we should worship.
Be SURE of your PLACE. (Vs 1)
When worshipping God, it is more desirable to LISTEN than to speak. Yes, communications is a two-way street. We talk, God listens; God talks we listen. That's real communication.
However, when we are coming before God to give Him our adoration, we should have the attitude that reflects HIM as the omniscient God, and we as His servants. Be ready to HEAR and be OBEDIENT. That's a sure PLACE or "footing" when worshipping God.
Be SURE of your WORDS. (vss 2-3)
Offering vain and repetitious worship is "rash" speaking. The heart should speak with careful consideration that God ALREADY knows everything going on in our lives.
A dream tonight is simply the reflection of the "business" of today. Sometimes dreams get rather mixed up because the brain is a stockpile of information. But, generally speaking dreams reflect what's going on in our lives. And so does our speaking (vs 3b).
Keep in mind that the Bible says the "fool" doesn't really BELIEVE in God (Ps. 14:1, Ps. 53:1). And in Christians, the sin of UNbelief is our biggest problem (Heb. 12:1).
Be SURE you DO what you promise. (vss 4-6)
It is better to NOT promise, than to promise and not KEEP it! (vs 5) And, we can't go back and say it was an "error" (verse 6). God is listening, He knows the truth.
So, here's a conclusion that Solomon offers about worship:
We can offer many words and even vows, but we should always approach God with reverential awe (verse 7).
Love ya,
Bruce