Today, I am reading and commenting on Ecclesiastes 7-12.

When times are good the writer tells us to be happy and when times are bad he tells us to remember that those times come from God as well.  God brings both good times and bad times to us for a reason.  I recently heard a speaker say that the bad times we experience may be to teach us how to treat others better.  I do know that some of my best experiences grew out of how I dealt with bad times.  Let us learn to praise God and thank Him for what He has given us, whether we like it or not.  A little later the writer tells us not to be over-righteous or over-wise, not to harm ourselves trying to do the right thing.  He also tells us not to be wicked or a fool.  All of that he ties together by telling us to avoid extremes.  Which helps us understand what he means when he tells us not to be over-righteous or over-wise.  He is telling us not to puff ourselves up and to not avoid all pleasure.  I think of those who will only read certain types of non-fiction because other books do not build us up and make us better people.  Certainly, it is wise to be selective in what you read so that you do not tear yourself down, but there is room for reading just for pleasure.  Or, one can look at those who will never eat candy or other sweets because they are not good for them.  Again, there is room to eat things, in moderation, just because doing so brings pleasure.  It is wise to limit what one consumes, but one should be careful that one does not become extreme about doing so.

I am going to put this here at the end because it amuses me.

From Chapter 10 verse 2:
The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left. (Ecclesiastes 10:2)

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.