The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ecclesiastes 7:8-12, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.

10 Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

11 Wisdom along with an inheritance is good and an advantage to those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is protection just as money is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.”

Solomon didn’t always live a God-honoring life. His virtue lay largely in the wisdom he expressed in his writings. Preachers don’t always live godly lives, either; however, they quite often share soul-stirring messages from their pulpits. Congregations need to be tolerant of their pastor’s sermons because they come from the Word of God; and if they are prayerfully prepared, the LORD Himself has placed them in their hearts for the people with whom the pastors share.

All of that being said, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.”

Solomon notes that “wisdom is protection just as money is protection.” Have you ever thought of that? You have, if you’ve had a wreck and discovered that you’d neglected to renew your car insurance! We have the tendency to forget things we believe have little to no importance.

Solomon concludes our thinking here when he says that “knowledge is wisdom that preserves the lives of its possessors.” Of course, that preservation derives from the wisdom that comes from God.

This current, human writer is no one to boast of wisdom. In fact, he bemoans the lack of that commodity in his own life, even as he is led to warn others of it. One has to wonder if Solomon bemoaned his own negligence, even as he warned others of their neglect.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom