Ecclesiastes 5

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.  Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God.  God is in Heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.  For dreams result from much work and a fool’s voice from many words.”  Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 (HCSB)

Years ago, when I was in college, I used to work summers at the Whirlpool refrigerator plant.  It was a great experience, paid well, and made me glad to return to school in the fall!  One phenomenon that occurs to assembly line workers is that when they go to sleep at night, they dream of working on the assembly line…and their dreams are usually focused on a scenario where they can’t keep up with the pace of the conveyor belt.  It’s kind of depressing to work all day and dream about work all night.  But as I said, it's a shared dream.  So common that the Bible mentions it in today’s passage: Dreams result from much work.

Today’s passage also tells us that a fool’s voice results from many words.  I am a professional singer, so I am always happy to hear when a young singer has spent time practicing and finally finds their voice.  Nobody is happy when a fool finds his voice.  Have you ever been around a person who never stops talking?  Anyone can be chatty on any particular day, but there are some people who never stop!  Personally, I try and avoid such people, not because I don’t want to carry on a conversation with them, but because I CAN’T carry on a conversation with them.  I can’t get in a word edgewise.  The Bible calls such endless speech “foolish.”

It is even more foolish when we approach the Lord with such speech.  I am not saying we should not petition the Lord; we should do so often.  I’m simply relaying God’s Word to you.  A recent UCLA Study focusing on the rise of spirituality on college campuses discovered that only 13% of college students sought “spirituality” to learn what God required of them.  The vast majority only sought “spirituality” for what God could do for them.  Going before the Lord with a list of demands and accusations is equivalent to being “hasty to speak” and “impulsive to make a speech before God.”

Yes, the Lord wants us to petition and beseech Him, but we must always keep in mind the reality of our relationship with Him.  He is God in Heaven, and we are His creatures on earth.  From this perspective, we are more likely to guard our steps and draw near to Him in reverent obedience.   Obedience to what?  To His revealed Word, the Bible.  

It is through God’s Word that we know Who He is and where we fit into the whole equation.  It is through God’s Word that we learn what He requires of us and how to approach Him.  And it is knowledge of God’s Word that quiets the heart and stills the tongue, for we babble, mostly, out of ignorance and anxiety.  It is God’s Word that transforms fools into followers.