The Wise and the Foolish Under the Sun Kile Baker February 2nd, 2025 Series Tagline: Discovering what is meaningful, by determining what is meaningless. Our Theme Verse: "There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him?" — Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 I go Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 12 Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done. 13 And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness. 14 The wise person has eyes in his head,but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. 15 So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?... 17 Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. Overview of Wisdom: The power of foolishness: One foolish decision has the potential to derail your whole life. The power of wisdom: One wise decision has the potential to keep you from many foolish ones. What is wisdom?: Wisdom is using past experiences, knowledge, and good judgment in the present for a better future. Ecclesiastes 7:1-25 — Wisdom’s Usefulness & Limits Money — Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind. (Ecc. 7:7) Patience — The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. (Ecc. 7:8) Anger — Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. (Ecc. 7:9) Nostalgia — Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these? ” since it is not wise of you to ask this. (Ecc. 7:10) “Wisdom can actually be dangerous. A little wisdom can go a long way, or a little wisdom can be enough to hang yourself with if you forget that the world is twisted by sin and every heart is affected…it can never achieve the kind of control over your life and destiny that you seek It can help you with your money, with impatience, with anger, and with nostalgia…But never forget that it is God who controls the times. It is God who rules the universe. And so although you can live well, and die well, and know some things truly, you cannot know all things completely. But God does. So trust him—and do not make an idol out of wisdom.”” – Living Life Backward: How ecclesiastes teaches us to live in light of the end, David Gibson, pg. 104 Living Wisely: Living wisely will help you navigate your way into a better life. Three questions we ask ourselves when we make decisions: What do I want to do? - Based on our wants. What can I do? - Based on our worries. What should I do? - Based on God’s wisdom. Next Step: Make your next decisions based on God’s wisdom, found in scripture. Wisdom will not give you mastery over your life, but it will give you the humility to deal with whatever happens in your life. Next Step: Find someone who’s been through, what you’re going through, and ask them how they got through. “To be right with God, often means to be in trouble with men.” — Man: The Dwelling Place of God, A.W. Tozer The wise and the foolish both make mistakes, but only the wise make corrections. Next Step: Don’t double down on your mistakes. Own them, repent of them, and get out of them. Next Week: The Depths of Death