# 19 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 10:18. Probity! Read all of chapter ten first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ecc.10:18 “Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.”
Ecc.10. Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: pay attention to your choices! “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it.” Your secret negative thoughts about a person become obvious by your attitude.
Vs.1-4. A fly in the ointment ruins it all. One mistake overshadows many good deeds. “The heart of the wise inclines right, but the heart of the fool to the left.”. The teacher urges common sense, “calmness can lay great offenses to rest.”
Vs.5-7. The Teacher warns against persons of many words but little action, to be put in charge. The wise and fool suffer alike as well as the rich and poor.
Vs.8-11. Take the time to think things through, your actions may harm you and others. Take time to be prepared, sharpen your mind and your tools. What is not accomplished on time may not be paid for.
Vs.12-15 “Words from the month of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.” By ignoring wisdom things get worse and worse. “No one knows what is coming – who can tell someone else what will happen to them. True, I don’t know what will happen to you but I know what will happen to me at the end of my life. Praise God! Fools do not know the way.
Vs.16-20. Woe to the land whose leaders are irresponsible and drunk on power. Don’t we know it? Blessed is the land where humility, common sense, justice and probity (honesty and goodness) is practiced. Let us get back to that! Lack of effort, lack of attention, unabated feasting and seeking only money, causes many problems. Your secret negative thoughts about a person become obvious by your attitude. Find something positive about every situation and about every person you meet!
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Heavenhigh 