Devotion: Ecclesiastes 7:19

Ecclesiastes 7:19 Wisdom makes one wise person more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

Without making this a political statement, I do find myself thinking of how true this verse is. We look at our government officials and question the logic behind the decisions being made on our behalf. It is difficult not to think, “If they only looked to God when making decisions, how much better life would be.” But a quick reminder is necessary before we move on. Those serving in leadership positions within our governments are all there because God has established it to be as such (Romans 13:1-5). We may not agree with their methods, but we are expected to obey. And God can and does use all things for His glory.

You would think that multiple people would be stronger than one, and normally this is true. They each bring unique perspectives, life experiences, learning and knowledge… But man is limited, even in numbers because we do not have the mind of Christ. We do not think as God thinks or act as God acts.

We cannot look at just verse 19 and fully understand the meaning of thi statement from Ecclesiastes. If we look at verse 20 we see it continue with “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” We see that we cannot have absolute faith in our rulers to make righteous decisions because they are sinners, the same as us. A wise person understands this and realizes that the only Righteous One is Christ, our risen King and Savior. Knowing and understanding (and accepting) that people are not perfect and make faulty decisions and judgments is wisdom.

How? By allowing us to understand that these rulers are not perfect and make mistakes we are better able to be understanding instead of critical. Rather than complaining about our governments we can instead begin to pray for them, seeing that they need God just as much as you and I do.

As followers of Christ we are called to love others, including those who do not know Christ themselves and who are in need of His sacrifice for their sinful natures. We need to be wise enough to realize this and to act accordingly because they do not have the wisdom of Christ in them. We are not better than they are. We are simply forgiven and have the Spirit to guide us. Understanding that is wisdom and we can be stronger as a result.

Are you being critical or are you being wise? Take some time today to pray for the authorities over you instead of complaining. Use wisdom to understand that they need Jesus, too.

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