How One Person Can Have So Much Power

Ecclesiastes 9:16-18

¹⁶So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

¹⁷The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded

   than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

   but one sinner destroys much good.

The Power of Wisdom. And foolishness.

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Have you been to the Post Office recently to mail off a package? Did you know thePost Office will no longer provide free tape for you to close up your package? You have to buy tape, and tape it up yourself. It used to be something thePost Office would help you with, but no longer.

Do you know why that changed, for every person in the United States of America? Because of one person. One person sent a package in the mail that did not get to the receiver in the same state they sent it in, so they sued the United States Postal Service, and blamed everything on the fact that the teller at thePost Office had helped to close up the package with tape that was provided at the Post Office. And this one angry customer won.

But everyone else lost. Including myself, as I have now spent countless dollars on having to buy tape because I keep forgetting that they don’t provide it for free anymore.

What is the point of that story? It shows that one person has so much power.

We all have power in us, and are we going to use it for the good of humanity, or the opposite? In James 3:17, wisdom from heaven is described as “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.”

This kind of wisdom is said to be “better than weapons of war” (v. 18) , and yet “one sinner destroys much good.”

Thought for Today: What are you going to do with the power you have today? One way you can see if your heart is full of wisdom or selfish foolishness is to look at your prayer life. Are your prayers for the good of others, or the good of yourself? Think about this, and change as needed.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, thank you for your word. Help me to be wise, and fill me with true wisdom that comes from heaven. I want to be pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial, and sincere. And I know in order for all of this to happen, I must become less and you must become more (John 3:30). Amen.