UNCOMMEN: Wise MenНамуна

Chasing the Wind

Scripture Reference: Ecclesiastes 2:26  "For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind."

You can't touch my joy.

You may have heard that said by someone and wondered what in the world are they meaning. There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is a feeling, and Joy is a perspective, and knowing the difference is wisdom. I know people who are sky high one day and rock bottom the next because they let their feeling dictate their happiness. Then I know people who are going through things that should get them down, but they still seem joyful.

They are not screwing on smiles for a public appearance, but understand that the same God that is in the good days is in the bad days as well. Paul praised God from the jail cell and wrote several books of the New Testament. If Paul said, "I'm going to wait until I get out of prison and get my life together before I listen to the Holy Spirit", we would not have much of the New Testament. 

Wind Chasers

As that great theologian, Ariel from The Little Mermaid said…

"I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty

I've got whozits and whatzits galore

(You want thingamabobs?I got twenty)

But who cares?

No big deal

I want more"

I love the part of our verse that says, "but to the sinner; he has given the business of gathering and collecting." We are all into some hobby that we chase and collect this or that. But I think we all know someone who has taken the art of gathering and collecting to a new level. There's even a show called "Hoarders" about people who want too much stuff. No matter how much this person gathers, they want more. Two guitars are not enough, so I now have 43.

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

Uncommen Questions:

1. Do you pursue happiness or joy?

2. Do you lay up treasures in heaven, or do you gather them here on earth for all the world to see?

Uncommen Challenge:

I challenge you to examine if what you are doing is pleasing to God. Because if so, wisdom, knowledge, and joy are rewarding. If not, you are in store for vanity and chasing the wind.

Choose wisely!