Sunday – Poetry

Reading – Ecclesiastes 9-10

Highlight Verse:

“Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s probably time I got around to addressing the “elephant in the room.”

At the time he wrote Ecclesiastes, Solomon seems to have been struggling.

This book does not point to any doubt in the existence of God.

But Solomon writes as if Heaven did not exist.

Many would say that Solomon wanted to focus on life in this world to influence how people live their lives on earth.

I agree with this premise, but I also think that Solomon may have been struggling with understanding eternal life.

During his time, Jewish theology did not have the advantage of Jesus’ accounts of heaven or even Daniel’s prophecies.

Solomon may have not fully understood eternal life but that does not make his writing any less appropriate for life in this world.

Most translations start this verse with “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”

The NLT is the only translation that I consulted that uses the term “do well”.

The difference may be subtle, but I believe the connotation is valid.

You can do something with all your might – sloppily.

It is consistent with Solomon’s wisdom that he would mean something to the effect of “do it to the best of your ability.”

I can speak from experience when I say that’s great advice.

I generally try to do my very best at work and it has given me recognition, job security, and good raises (when raises were available).

The times when I have not put in my full effort are when the quality of my work has faltered and I’ve seen setbacks to my career.

No one does perfect work all the time, but the more effort you put into what you do, the better the results.

What rewards have you seen from putting forth your best efforts?
What can you do to increase those efforts?