Daily Devotions
Ecclesiastes
"It will be well with those who fear God"
Text: Ecclesiastes 8:12
LOOKING AT LIFE FROM HUMAN LENSES
We may look at life from different lenses. One common way of looking at life is the practise of “pragmatism”. It is often pitted as the alternative to “idealism”. But there is yet another way of looking at life. It is through the lenses of faith in God.
“Though a sinner does evil a hundred times,
and his days are prolonged,
yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God,
who fear before Him.”
Ecclesiastes 8:12
1. “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times”
a) A person becomes a dreadful sinner.
b) He sins with a sense of impunity.
c) He does evil a hundred times.
i) One expects that he may be punished for being evil.
ii) But his days are prolonged.
iii) He does not seem to be worse off though he does evil things.
d) But does this mean that one is free to choose the path of evil and not suffer consequences?
2. “Yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him”
a) Solomon posits this alternative
i) Of faith in God.
ii) This faith is practised by a sense of reverence towards God.
b) The fear of God
i) This is not just a theoretical idea.
ii) It is more than a religious notion.
iii) It is sincerely practised by the genuine believer.
iv) This fear of the Lord is practised conscientiously and with meaning.
c) It would be well with him.
i) He lives with a clear conscience.
ii) He finds joy and meaning in his life.
iii) He does no harm to people because he rejects evil.
iv) He is at peace with God and the world at large.
v) He may not be blessed with wealth, but that does not matter a whole lot
to him.
vi) It is well with his soul.