I’m now at the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible and I can’t help but notice how Solomon has been whining that all of life – the effort and labor we put at work to build wealth, secure our future and gain wisdom and understanding along the way – is all vanity and a chasing after the wind.
He has gone out of his way in all of his wisdom and has told himself that life ends when you die and when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon did not consider that there will be a greater life after the one he was living.
Imagine that he had all the wealth in the world. In fact he says that he did not deny himself anything that his heart desired. I don’t think there is someone living today who can say the same – and yet Solomon in all his wisdom and glory was in despair.
Now realize this – when you read the Psalms of David (Solomon’s father) you would find that there is a lot of hope, rejoicing and peace. David was not even said to be the wisest man who ever lived – Solomon is.
However David is full of the Spirit of God. He followed God with all his heart.
This is when I realize that wisdom is overrated. It is being filled with God’s Spirit that is really important for us.
God’s Spirit not only gives wisdom – it gives us all things so that we can produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
I have been in pursuit of wisdom ever since I can remember. I pray to God for wisdom every single day.
And yet even wisdom can fail and spiral to despair and hopelessness as in the case of king Solomon in Ecclesiastes.
I realize now that I should pray instead for God’s Spirit to fill me daily as king David did. Because the wisdom that comes with God’s Holy Spirit has no vanity, despair or hopelessness in it.
