Ecclesiastes 5:1-3
“Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore, let your words be few. For the dream comes through much effort and the voice of a fool through many words.”
At first glance, Ecclesiastes 5:3 appears to say that dreams are an echo of our daytime activities, that anxious days cause troubled sleep. While that is certainly true, the verse appears in the context of how to worship God. Thus Solomon advises, “Prioritize and keep your life simple!” “Walk prudently” means “watch your moral conduct.” Frequently, “hear” is used synonymously with “obey,” and the “sacrifice of fools” is allowing fellowship to degenerate into mere socializing without serious regard toward walking prudently and hearing God.
Hastiness in prayer is speaking ill-considered words before God. Though we pour out a prayer to Him in anguish, we may not think about the possible effects of our words. We can also do this by praying carelessly, ignorant of the seriousness of our communication with God. What causes hastiness in prayer? A multitude of business. The busy fool pours out a flood of useless words because his mind is crammed with all the details of his business. This evil excess misuses important time with God and obscures the effectiveness of simple, heartfelt, and thoughtful prayer. When our minds are so full of our own activities rather than with the purposes of God, we often pray to Him like fools who talk incessantly about things of no consequence, or we endlessly repeat ourselves.
Paul writes of “redeeming the time” in Ephesians 5:16. Redeem means “to buy back for oneself” or “buy up an opportunity.” When connected to “time,” it means “to buy or take advantage of an opportunity.” Since we are dealing with time, and it inexorably passes on, we must make the most of each opportunity. If an opportunity is missed, it cannot be recalled. We must concentrate our efforts on getting control of our time and life with this thought in the foreground. We need to restrict the activities we intend to focus on to a few and be, with God, the master of our awesome destiny! Never forget that, to a very great extent, eternity is purchased by how we spend our time in the present. Time is priceless—do not waste it!
