Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Verses chosen for devotion:
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.
4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
Reflect
King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes to reflect upon his life and to impart many worthy teachings and wisdom. In fact many things in this world he referred to as vanity and futility. The message is about the importance of centering our lives on God, and not ourselves. In the passage chosen he talked about the the precautions we need to take as we worship God or enter His presence, after all He is all knowing and majestic. He knows our heart and whether we are obedient or we are merely putting up an act. It is useless to utter nice words or empty promises before God or others when we don’t mean them or are unable to honor them. Few sincere words are far better than many meaningless and careless vows (if one is not going to honor it). The writer stresses that it is more important to obey God’s word and to revere Him.
Relate
Sometimes we may have forgotten the fact that our Heavenly Father is the King of kings and the God of the universe. Though He is love, He is also holy and sovereign. We have to honour Him with all respect and reverence. When we attend our Sunday Service do we come to Him with all the respect and exaltation that He deserves? Is our heart clear from all our other “dreams” that come from much business? Are we hoping for the service to end quickly so we can proceed to somewhere else to pursue our worldly dreams? The truth is if we believe that God dwells among us and we are entering His presence we would have had different perspective of how we should conduct our worship in the house of the Lord.
Even as we pray, do we mean what we have uttered? Or they are merely words befitting for the occasion? Many times we pray to love God and others, and to ask for the spirit to fill us. When we are back to our routine we quickly forget about what we have prayed for and vowed to do. We may again fill our lives with loving ourselves, chasing our priorities and filling ourselves with the fruit of the flesh (and not of the spirit). Even little thing counts as to whether we are living our lives according to the fruit of the spirit, or to the contrary. Simple examples such as complaining and cursing when the traffic jam gets unbearable, criticising others who may have crossed our path, and sinning repetitively even though we have promised God not to do it again. And how about our vows to God to serve Him, or to offer Him our thanksgiving when He has blessed our lives and families abundantly? Do we keep our promises?
Verse 1 reminded us to approach God with a heart of reverence and obedience. We should not have other unfinished business in our heart as we come to worship Him. Matthew 5:23-24 says - “23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.“
Verse 4 says that God has no pleasure in fools who vow and delay paying it (also refer to Deuteronomy 23:21-23 - it is a sin for not keeping our vows to God). Otherwise whatever we do (attending the service without the heart of obedience) and making vow without the intention to keep it will not please God. It will be nothing but a meaningless routine and a foolish speech to God. We will just continue to be fools chasing after vanity.
Rest
“Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me”
Alan Wong
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