Ambrose Brothers

Crackling Thorns and the Fool?

Ecclesiastes 7:6

For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

Solomon seems to have gone into full Proverbs mode here as he dishes out wisdom on foolishness and wisdom. And much like Proverbs, some of them cause us to pause and scratch our heads. I don’t know about you, but this was one of those verses to me, as I looked and wondered what a crackling thorn has to do with foolish laughter. Well I did my research; I looked the verse up in two different study Bible’s, four Bible translations, and one commentary, and I have an answer

A "crackling thorn" deals with a burning thorn, like one in a fire, the thorns, or weeds burn quickly and produce a lot of noise as they go. They flare up and produce smoke, but soon turn to ash and blow away. In the end, the burning thorns produce little, they produce little heat, little light, and they are basically pointless. The pot deals with a cooking pot, it gains no heat from the "crackling of thorns."

The laughter of a fool is like this as well, its loud, it’s quick, but it’s meaningless. The fool will not laugh for long; as none of us are long for this earth. The laughter of a fool is vanity.

How sad it is that we have often seen the laughter of fools, and had a twinge of jealousy in our hearts. We see their care free hearts go through life, enjoying the things of this world with no thought to their eternity. Yet this sort of lifestyle is foolishness and we know it. Sure there here today, some of them are loud, or shining, some of them may blow a lot of hot air that can be seen for miles around. Yet there time is only like a flash, and then they are gone. When we have Christ we are here to stay.

Christ covers this thought in his teachings of the B-Attitudes in the book of Luke

Luke 6: 21, 25

21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
      Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh

25 Woe to you who are full,
For you shall hunger.
      Woe to you who laugh now,
For you shall mourn and weep.

Good Choice, Bad Choice

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16

As Solomon continued to search for the meaning of life he starts to compare all the different lifestyles choices that are out available.  Today we might do the same thing but we would call it a "pro's, and con's" list.  He starts to weigh the options, to see all the possibilities.   Ecclesiastes 2:12, Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly.  What more can the king's successor do then what has already been done? 

Have you ever done the same thing?  I know in my life these thoughts have crossed my mind plenty of time.  As we try to walk the life of a follower of Christ it is easy (or it should be easy) to see that there are some major differences in what our actions are, as opposed to the world.  How we respond to troubles in our lives and how we spend our money and our time are greatly different from the majority. You know, the whole "love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, to be great, be the servant, if you want more, give away what you have" mindset.

It is alright to weigh the cost of following Christ. Luke 14:28-30 Jesus says "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone will ridicule him, saying, "this fellow began to build an was not able to finish."

When it comes to deciding if you want to follow Christ (wise choice) or live as the world lives (madness and folly) go ahead and weigh the cost.  Solomon did this and he came to an important discovery v.13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. 

Each day we wake up with the option of "Good Choice, Bad Choice"  and it is in those choices we make that decide if we walk in the light (Jesus Christ) or in the darkness (Sin).  Solomon comes to an interesting conclusion, that regardless of of our choices we will all have the same fate.  Someday these earthly bodies will wear out and die.  However what really matters is what happens after that, and our eternity is base on the "Good Choice" of trusting Jesus Christ as you savior, and the sacrifice for your sins, and based on His gift you can enjoy eternal life in heaven.  Or if make a "Bad Choice" and refuse the gift Jesus offers, and live in the darkness, you will spend that same eternity in hell, a literal place of eternal punishment.

Here is the action step for today.  Examine the choices you are making in your life.  Will they result in light or darkness?  Are the decisions your making based on God's Word (wisdom) or the world's view (madness and folly)?  Then from this day forward start your day with this simple prayer "Lord today I chose to follow you.  Speak clearly today and fill my mind with your Words as I make each decision.  Thank you Jesus, for  your choice to suffer on the cross for me, help me to live my life for you."  Before your feet hit the floor in the morning, start your day by planning to make good choices.