Skip to main content

Where Can I Get No Thinking Done?

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. ~Ecclesiastes 9:10

Maybe this will be a good way for all of us to let out our frustration today. After all, it is a Monday.

When I first read this verse, the part about no work and no thought instantly stood out to me. The second thought to hit me was that this verse makes complete sense when you consider Sheol, or Hell, is where people go who don't choose God. (It's Monday, can we keep the deep theology to a minimum today?)

The only place devoid of God would very much be lacking in wisdom and knowledge. Clearly nobody down there is thinking. And much to the chagrin of some guys in my youth group, there is no work in Hell. I say chagrin because I recently shared with them scripture that talks about us doing work in Heaven. I also say chagrin (now 3 times) because it makes me sound smart.

Solomon was correct to encourage us all to do what we do with all our might. It is especially true for those who do not know God, because this very well will be the last place they can do so, that which we were created to do.

But hold on. I said this was my second thought? So what was my first?

My first thought when I read Solomon's wisdom was how much fun it would be to fill in this blank.

No work? No thought? No wisdom? So that makes this like __________________.
Feel free to fill in the blank with whatever place you think is most devoid of thought or wisdom or work. Here's a few that I thought of:

  • my office on Fridays.
  • a preschool.
  • a college dorm.
  • board meetings.

Maybe I should stop before I get myself in trouble. How would you fill in the blank?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d