Photo by Bgrace"Keep your foot (give your mind to what you are doing) when you go...to the house of God. For to draw near to hear and obey is better than to give the sacrifice of fools (carelessly, irreverently) too ignorant to know that they are doing evil." Ecclesiastes 5:1
Lately I've taken to writing scripture on 3x5 cards and keeping them with me. It's one of those practices my Dad used to have that when I was younger I thought was incredibly tacky and lame and now have quite contentedly adopted for myself. Of course, my 3x5 cards are neon yellow, pink, green, and orange, so maybe that's the difference. :-)
ANYWAYS, sometimes I take them to the gym, so that I can work them into my mind and listen to how God is applying them to my heart. This passage from Ecclesiastes just seemed to open up to me. Not that I feel like I've had any earth shattering revelations about it. Rather, it feels like something you know all along but suddenly comes alive in a new way. In a meaningful way, especially in my present circumstances.
The message is simply this--pay attention when you go to commune with God. Draw near to hear and then obey what you hear. This is different than those who are foolish--those who are careless about how they commune with God, who don't focus on the interaction.
They are foolish because they approach the time irreverently and carelessly. In other words, they don't really think they have a whole lot to learn through their time with God. Is it because they don't really expect God to speak? Or because they think they already know what God thinks about something, or that they can come up with the answers without the voice of the Holy Spirit giving enlightenment to His Word?
More than anything, what I see in this passage is a very weighty emphasis on coming into the presence of God, listening to God, waiting for Him to speak, and coming out of that interaction, obeying as we have been led. This was written before Christ gave us the Spirit. How much more now than then? For now the Holy Spirit's house is within us.
What saddens me most is how much this beautiful way of receiving guidance that God opens to His children has been undermined, has been doubted, and has been lost in the teachings of the church. It is of such great importance that we practice this.
We must believe that wisdom comes from listening. We must approach God with faith that He will speak. And we must learn to listen to the sound of His voice. If you don't recognize it yet, don't give up. Give it a week, a month, a year. Seek it as the lost pearl. The greatest treasure. But trust that it is there waiting, eager to be discovered.
IT IS A LIVING WORD. Alive and life giving.
Keep your foot as you go to it.
