Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
Better is the poor and wise youth than an old & foolish king who will no longer be admonished. For out of prison he has come to reign even though he was born poor in the kingdom. Then I saw all thos who live and walk under the sun, along with the next youth who will arise in the kings place–the king’s successor. There is no end of all the people to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him, they will not be pleased. Surely thisis also vanity and chasing the wind, it’s meaningless.
The vanity of “Status” and it’s short life
These passages are talking about a young man who came out of poverty and prison and acheived great success, problem is he forgot where he came from, he developed and arrogance so his followers were not pleased with him at all. He forgot to be kind to others, he forgot that he needed to depend upon others at one time or another. He rose from misfortune to great wealth, kind of like the story From rags to Riches. Problem is because of his arrogance or the way he treated others, his followers and peers were not pleased with him.
It’s also talking about how it’s better to be young and wise rather than old and foolish. Sometimes the young have more wisdom than they are given credit for. It’s what they do with that wisdom that counts. You can have all the wealth in the world but, it does not mean that you are wise.
Think about the workplace, how someone gets a promotion and everyone is proud of them and thinking that things will be different now and over time they become arrogant. They tend to forget how it was when they were a little man, they forget how hard they worked and how the management treated them. In the beginning they may have said oh, I’ll get this for you or that for you and later you get excuses as to why they can’t do it. Thing is it will catch up to them, they will see the negativity in the workplace, production is down, profits are down and now they have alot to answer for. In the end their “Status quo” will be short lived, even if it’s for the rest of their career, their era will soon be forgotten as others come in to take his place.
What does all of this mean? It means strive to do your best, don’t forget to be kind to others, treat others with respect. If you are afforded the opportunity to advance, give it your best shot, don’t walk all over people to get higher on the totem pole. Be grateful, thankful for what you have. Be an example to others so that your era will live long after you are gone. Be the one that others will say, oh …..they did a great job, I sure miss….. Most of all be a Godly example.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this devotion. I’ve enjoyed reading and researching for it. God bless and have a great night.
The life of a Cajun girl. It's anything but ordinary 