“Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Eccl. 12:12)  When I was a student, I considered this verse a perfect description of my life.  I thought that when I finished school, I would be done with it!  How wrong I was…

Every year about this time, I am reminded of that vain hope.  We are starting into what I refer to as “the paperwork season.”  It’s time to get all those tax-related scraps and pieces, all the e-mails and details organized and accounted-for, and all the healthcare appointments finished.  It’s time for planning and plotting what we intend to do in the new year based on what we did last year.  In the church, this is the time to do end-of-year reports and evaluations and develop strategies for the coming year.  The new year brings a flurry of “much study” that is anything but new.  And the bookkeeping is clearly endless.  What do we do with all this mess?

I always enjoy looking at the verses around a passage to discover more about it.  Verse 11 of Ecclesiastes 12 is the perfect counterpoint to verse 12.  “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails– given by one Shepherd.”  Instead of becoming completely focused on the nitty gritty details of our lives, maybe we need to make sure we spend some time on wise sayings, particularly from “one Shepherd.”  Instead of finding our motivation (the terms “goads” and “nails” imply strong motivation) in our fiscal and temporal urgencies, let’s set our minds on “wise” things.  Let’s listen to “the shepherd” as we wade through our paperwork ocean.

So, if I’m going to follow this wise saying, I need to consider other sage advice.  I’ve referred to a couple in my last two posts.  This time, I am reminded that my treasures (at least if I’m the Christian I think I am) are not here, ala Matthew 6:19-20 (click to read).  Jesus tells us not to focus here, but on heaven.  Writing a sizeable check to the government is not as painful to me now as it has been in the past.  God has, like the fish from which Peter pulled four drachma (see Matthew 17:24-27, click to read), provided in sufficient ways to cover it.  If my treasures are in heaven, then I can take good care of my body, but I don’t want it to become my entire focus.  I have relationships with the Lord and people around me that are much more important.

This year, it’s time to finish the paperwork as I enjoy the real living that I have today.  Maybe I’ll even return to putting wise sayings on sticky notes to remind me about the priorities that are much more precious even than getting my teeth cleaned!  If you choose to join me, may God bless you with love and peace as you do.