One mouth, two ears…

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. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. (Ecclesiastes 5:1–7)

Any effort in life to be prosperous (a dream) requires much business (or busyness) which this writer compares to the hasty and prolific words of a fool who talks too much. Another writer compares this thought this way:

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

This is like those who busily do what they think is serving God without actually listening to or obeying Him. They go through the motions and appear to be devout, but their actions are mere ritual. This was condemned then, and by Jesus, and today often goes undetected or sometimes applauded. 

Those who “serve God” in this manner perhaps have vowed to do so, yet when doing so, are doing what they assume is wanted rather than what God accepts. As one writer says, the truth that it is more acceptable to God is that one should go to Him to hear the Law taught and expounded, than to offer a formal sacrifice of ‘good’ works. This is the offering of a godless man and in proverbial language called “the sacrifice of fools” (Proverbs 21:27).

This same writer also says that the “fools” who offer unacceptable sacrifices do not know how to worship God heartily and properly. Thinking to please Him with their formal acts of devotion, they fall into a grievous sin. 

In my thinking, this is a failure to recognize the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. Instead of glorifying God who uses us like a hand in a glove, the glove gets credit for cooperating with the hand instead of moving with it in obedience and with the recognition of its own helplessness. 

. . . .  though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:6–10)

Paul knew the glory of few words and obedience because he knew his own helplessness and the foolishness of talking too much. He sought the will of God and was told his power was in helplessness, not in the many good things that God's hand did with him. His ‘dreams’ were successful because he feared God and listened. 

Lord Jesus, every day something happens requiring Your instruction. In my response to these events, I talk big about what I will do, but You urge me to shut up and listen. Then You surprise me with Your solutions. These are lessons in what it means to fear You and listen. You are the most amazing God and I am blessed to be weak and listen, rather than be ‘strong’ and do what I think is best.

 

Faith + Obedience = Blessing

Today was one of those days where information came in faster and deeper than I could absorb it. The above three passages gave me much to think about.

The first one showed the links between faith, obedience, and God’s blessing. While the Bible says we cannot earn or deserve the grace of God, trusting Him makes a difference in our experience of Him. Without faith, we have no idea what God would and can do for us.

Genesis 22 tells of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son. This makes no sense; God forbids such things. Maybe that is why Abraham did not question Him, but headed up a mountain with a load of firewood and his son, Isaac. When the young man asked about the animal required for the sacrifice, Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went together to the place God called them. (Genesis 22:8)

After the angel stopped Abraham from killing Isaac and produced a ram as the sacrifice, God said to him, “By myself I have sworn,  because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:16–18)

Faith + obedience = God’s blessing. These are intertwined. In the next passage, God is saying the same thing in the form of a specific example. He says I need to believe and obey this . . .

“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 . . . . Let not your mouth lead you into sin . . . . Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1, 6–7)

Too much yakking is sinful. My mouth can lead me into sin and God’s anger can destroy what good I might do with my hands if I talk too much. Increased plans and dreams and words can come from vain ambition, vanity, and be like a puff of smoke. Instead, I must fear God (be in awe), draw close to Him and listen so as to trust and obey Him, and then experience His blessing on what I do.

In the NT, the message is the same about paying attention to my motivations. This time the example is human traditions. Some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem with this question, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” Jesus answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? “ (Matthew 15:1–3)

My first thought was how some church-goers hold dearly to things like the style of music used in worship and the kind of clothing people ‘ought to’ wear to church. As I read on, Jesus described those involved in defending their traditions this way: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8–9) That echoes Ecclesiastes and “listen instead of talking!”

Jesus then addresses another tradition (hand-washing) and goes right to the source of the problem, the human heart. He said it isn’t what comes out of our mouths that defile us, but what comes out of the heart, “ . . . For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:18–20)

From this I understand that I not only need to watch my mouth, but also my heart. Insisting on my traditions is one thing, but a far more serious problem is a heart that has sinful desires and intentions. If I let that go unchecked and do not confess those sins, my mouth will make a mess of all sorts of things.

Lastly, I read about a non-Jewish woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter. He said it was not right to give the children’s bread to the family pet, but she replied, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” At this, Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (Matthew 15:27–28)

Again, God blesses faith + obedience. Do what He says, even if it seems unreasonable. Talk less and listen more, especially in my conversations with God. If insisting on tradition, check my Bible and my heart and find out what God says. And when I have needs, bring them to Jesus in faith plus obedience and He will bless me.