6th Edition Newsletter- (September 27th)

D’s Spiritual Guidance Newsletter-6th Edition
-a weekly publication (published Saturdays)

Intro
Hope you’re all having a great weekend so far! Sorry that I don’t have anything profound to say in the intro, but it’s alright. The message for today is more important anyway. Have a good coming week and God bless!
-D

Words of Wisdom

"Two things rob people of their peace of mind: work unfinished and work not yet begun.”
-Author Unknown

"It is said that grace enters the soul through a wound.”
-Heather McDonald

"You can’t teach experience.”
-Unknown


Passage

Ecclesiastes 4:13-14: Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more. For he comes out of prison to be king although he was born poor in his kingdom.


Sermon

The passage this time is one I’m glad I found. While flipping through the pages of my King James Bible hoping to find something worthwhile including in the sermon, I found a particular heading in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Popularity Passes Away”. It seemed odd that something so blatant and interesting like that could be found there of all places, but I decided to read it. The first two lines of that section are the verse for today. In this text comes a load of meaning; however you choose to take it. But nonetheless, I’ll try to explore the purpose of it. There is a certain bunch of imagery that comes to mind when you read this and re-read it: that of a pauper and a king. The king may be rich and hold incredible power, but is foolish in comparison to the pauper, who is wise even in his misfortune. As well, the part about “who will be admonished no more” says, plain and simple, the king’s time is over. His glories are few, and he has nothing more to contribute from his limited wisdom. On the other hand though, the young pauper is sensible and has yet so much to garner from his gifts, nothing monetary, but something much deeper than that. If you want to take it this way, you could consider someone who has yet to rise to the power of king, to make something for himself. In us all lies the potential for great success or great failure. We must all start somewhere, and if we must trade riches for wisdom at first, by all means, do so.

Now for the second half of the passage: “for he comes out of prison to be king…” This, I think, is a metaphorical way of phrasing eventual victory. One does not achieve great gain without first enduring great losses. In the case of this passage, an image of someone who is downtrodden, imprisoned and lowly comes to mind. Yet still, they come out of this entrapment and ascend to something far and beyond the worries of that metaphorical prison cell. But it goes even deeper than that. Although it may not always seem so, the world is sometimes that prison cell- cold, dark and lonely, a cage for all our sorrows and things beyond our control. But to even the darkest of cells, there is always a key. That key is God. And so, after all things great and many, the sufferings we endure in the harsh complexities of life, God is always there waiting to set you free from that abysmal prison of your own limitations. He is the accomplice of all things good and the downfall of all evils and injustices. He is as willing to break you out of that shadowy prison as anyone, but all you have to do is seal the deal. Trust in God to free you from all these problems and all these pains. They are but details. God will handle the rest.

And so, going back to the text to summarize, a poor youth we may be at times, no king of stature or ruler of wealth, but we have something else on our side: the potential to learn and to trust God. Even the wise need a guiding light when their lanterns burn dim. But if you ever find yourself struggling, a pauper in the midst of power, have faith always in the Lord. He will make you wealthy in spirit and powerful in the Word. Always.

Amen.


Sidenotes

As I have found in my life, there is no such thing as “halfway” when it comes to doing something important. You cannot halfway believe in God. You cannot halfway want to go to Heaven. And most of all, you cannot halfway give your all if you do both of those things. It is a difficult concept for most to grasp, giving literally, heart and soul to God. To some, it might mean taking the ultimate bullet, whether or not we’re even ready. A lot of times, this frightens people, the idea that “if we can’t measure up even by a bit, we’re doomed to hell” or something to that effect. This is an irrational fear. In its own way, being worried about that concept means you actually, genuinely care. If you just turned your back to the concept and said, “I don’t care. If I go to heaven, I go to heaven. If I don’t, I don’t”, but this is a terribly indifferent way of thinking. This is the halfway I was talking about. If you worry about your salvation from time to time, if you hold it to yourself that that’s what you are striving for at all costs, even if seems an impossible task, don’t worry. If indeed your soul is devout and your faith is in God, he will give you the strength of salvation, and grant you the power to give your all. So, until then, be not afraid of ever missing the mark by “just a little”. Have an eager trust in the Lord and he will make up the difference. Period.


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