Ecclesiastes 10 reads much as a chapter in Proverbs once again. We’re shown the difference between wise and foolish actions, and the one that stands out the most to me is the wisdom of taking time to “sharpen the ax” so it will not take so many blows to fell the tree. Many years ago, Steven Covey focused on this as one of the seven habits of highly effective people. While it might seem best to always just start swinging the ax, taking the time to sharpen it before work begins, whatever it means to “sharpen the ax,” will always yield greater productivity in the end.
Ecclesiastes 11 is a bit more challenging to understand than some of the chapters in the book, but it commends putting our “eggs” in more than one “basket,” as we invest our efforts and our resources. We’re reminded that if a farmer looks at the skies, he will never plant his fields, meaning there is always the possibility of rain, or wind, or of some calamity related to the weather. While we learned in chapter 10 the importance of sharpening the ax before we work, there does come a time when the ax is sharp and we need to start cutting!
Ecclesiastes 12 starts with a strong reminder to live our lives fully when we are young, because as we get older we will find many aspects of our life aren’t what they used to be. At the age of 62, I am finding King Solomon was so right. I am grateful to have invested most of my life in serving Jesus, and calling others to trust Him as Savior and Lord. I don’t have many regrets, but the ones I have focus mainly on taking so long to let the Holy Spirit lead my life in the area of inappropriate anger, and of not investing my time as wisely as I could have. I’m grateful to still be able to many things effectively, but some of the challenges of aging are starting to have their impact. King Solomon closes by reminding us there is no end of writing books and too much study just makes us tired in the end. Therefore, fear God and keep His commandments. That is good advice, as good as it gets. As we fear God and keep His commandments, we demonstrate the kind of wisdom that shows we are abiding in Him.
As we return to Mark 2, we see it is one of the shorter chapters in the book. Jesus heals a paralytic, but not before forgiving the man’s sins, which caused the religious leaders to wonder who Jesus thought He was. Before it was all over he had shown them! Next, Jesus called Levi or Matthew to follow Him. This also upset the religious leaders, because Matthew was a “sinner.” Jesus addressed that matter simply: He had not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent. (Had the Pharisees not been so self-righteous, they might have seen Jesus was pointing out they were also sinners.) Mark includes the conversation Jesus had with those who questioned why the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted, but His disciples did not? Jesus’ response is clear: He is the Bridegroom (It wasn’t so clear at the moment that the Church is His bride!), and no one fasts at a wedding reception. Jesus had come to introduce something radically new, and while He was with us introducing it, the party was on. During His absence for a time, we are called to fast. Finally, Mark records Jesus and the disciples going through a grain field, and the disciples plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath–the day of rest. According to the Pharisees this was breaking the Law of Moses. Jesus responded with examples of how King David broke the Law of Moses with impunity, and then pointed out He was the Lord even of the Sabbath. So, we see by the end of chapter 2, Jesus had already set himself up as the Lord of a new movement, which would have a new covenant, and ultimately a new commandment that would supersede all the laws in the old covenant. The new commandment is found in its most complete form in John 15:12: 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12 (ESV) We are far from the moment Jesus gave that new commandment, but even in Mark 2 we are well on the way to Jesus establishing Himself as someone radically different from the old covenant prophets.