The Happy Medium

“I have seen everything in my days of vanity:

There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.  Do not be overly righteous,
nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?  Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?  It is good that you grasp this, and also not remove your hand from the other; for he who fears God will escape them all.”
-Ecclesiastes 7:15-18

Solomon is known as the wisest man to have ever lived.  When he was a young man and fresh ruler, attempting to fill the great shoes of his father King David, Solomon prayed for wisdom from the Lord.  The Lord granted his request.
        Like Solomon, as we live our lives, we gain more wisdom and understanding through life experiences, through lessons the Lord teaches us over time, and simply by living.  As the Holy Spirit moved and worked in Solomon’s life, he recorded what he witnessed in a book known as Ecclesiastes. 
        Solomon writes down what all of us are often thinking: Most of this life is nothing but vanity, both the wicked and the righteous rise and fall, life is unfair, and in the end death finds us all.  In the midst of the huge dose of reality Solomon unashamedly and truthfully shares, he always goes back to the most important thing in all of this: “for he who fears God will escape them all.”  Following the Lord as one’s personal Savior, God and King is the only decision that truly matters in this life.
        In the context of the above passage, Solomon is telling us that the one who “fears God,” or reverently obeys and trusts God, will escape the extremes in this life of being “overly righteous/wise” (like a Pharisee) or “overly wicked/foolish” (like the lost denier of God).    Loving and obeying the Lord will keep us from falling into pits and extremes in this life.  Following the Lord will keep us balanced, level-headed, in the ‘happy medium.’
        In a world full of dogmatism and extremism on a plethora of fronts, we could sure use a lot more balance.  Only the Lord can provide that proper balance.


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