Poetry – Ecclesiastes 9-10

Bible Passage:  Ecclesiastes 9-10

Like fish in a net

When a tragedy happens, are you prepared for it?

People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy (Ecclesiastes 9:12).

How true, isn’t it? We never know when difficult times will come. And when it suddenly comes upon us, we are taken aback and find it hard to handle it.

It could be an illness, a loss of loved ones, a loss of job or loss of possessions.

Do you think that the fishes know that they were caught before the net was pulled up? Similarly, we do not know we are already “trapped” until we feel the pain. And by then, it is too late.

Even though we can never tell when such trying times will come, we can still make preparations. We can start by preparing our hearts to understand that such times will come. We know this through our reading of the Book of Ecclesiastes.

We must prepare our hearts to understand that any circumstances that we are living in right now can change and will most probably change. So even if we cannot change the circumstances we are being put in, we can control the circumstances of our hearts – how we feel, and how we react. As preacher exhorted before, 改变不了环境，改变心境。

We can also prepare our level of faith/spirituality before the difficult times come upon us. A deacon once spoke a sermon about how knowledge (of our belief) can help us strengthen our faith. This is especially so in difficult trying times when all our focus is only on the matter at hand, and we rarely have the heart or the energy to seek spiritual food. This is when our reserve of spirituality/faith that we have built up over time helps. By drawing upon this reserve, we may be able to tide over the “tragedy” that we are facing and still hang on to wait on the Lord.

So while we are still living in peaceful times, let us remember to build up that reserve.

Everything ends when life ends

Whatever they did in their lifetime-loving, hating, envying-is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth (Ecclesiastes 9:6).

This reminded me of something a preacher often exhorted. He often asks, at the end of the day, when you are dying, what is it that really matters then?

What is your answer?

I hope our answers are all the same – Jesus.

Jesus is all that matters, really. Whoever you love, hate, or envy, however deep or shallow they were, whether they also hate or love you back, all these does not matter anymore.

Think about it, on the day when you can finally be with Jesus again, after all the toil and struggles you endured, would you still care about a certain grudge you had against somebody? Or about the money that someone owed you? Or about how badly treated you were by someone?

I don’t think so. You would be too busy singing praises to God in heaven and too happy to care about what happened while on earth. After all, these things have passed, and these things had ended when your life on earth had ended.

It is interesting to note that love, hatred, and envy are all feelings and emotions that we have. Why didn’t this verse also talk about achievements or works? Perhaps, God knows that feeling and emotions are among the weakest link for man. People-related issues seem harder to tackle than non-people-related issues. And God wish to remind us that these things will be “long gone” by the time we go to heaven.

On that day, we may nevermore have a share in anything done under the sun, but the crucial question to ask is this: do we have a share in heaven?

No dead flies in my perfume!

As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor (Ecclesiastes 10:1).

It is often always so easy to do something wrong, isn’t it? I think my students can attest to this strongly. They seem to be always getting a scolding for doing something wrong. Indeed, it is true.

It is like scoring 100% for a test. You need to make sure you get all the questions right before you can get the 100/100 full marks; whereas one careless move would have cost you one mark and take you out of the 100/100 namelist.

It is also like being punctual for an appointment. You need to put in effort to be there on time; whereas one minute late would still mean you are late.

Doing right seems so difficult, whereas doing something wrong is so much easier.

Like how a bottle of perfume, well-kept for years, would give off a foul odour with some dead flies accidentally dropped into it.

Like how someone respected for wisdom and honour would have these destroyed by acting foolishly in merely one incident.

Doing right (continuously) seems to be much harder to achieve!

This thus suggests to us that all the more we must be alert and watchful in all our ways. A little mistake would have cause all that you have worked so hard for to come to nothing.

You wouldn’t want that to happen with regards to our salvation, would you? Imagine you running the race so hard, you managed to pass all the tests and overcame all the obstacles along the way, but just before the finishing line, you tripped and sprained your ankle.

We really must be careful in all our ways. A recent sermon reminded us that we must be holy for He is holy. We must really work out our salvation with fear and trembling, holding tight to the grace and mercy of God’s salvation.

A final encouragement

If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit!
A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes (Ecclesiastes 10:4)

This is to a friend whom I know met with some difficulty at work recently, and also to all who needs it. A quiet spirit really can do wonders. A quiet spirit that is humble and waits on the Lord.