Ecclesiastes Chapter 8
Obey Or Be A Jerk, You Choose!
In this chapter, King Solomon gives the directive to obey the king, the one whose word is supreme. He says if one obeys then no harm will come of you.
Yet, some will choose to disobey and in fact like to be a jerk about it.
God asks us to obey authorities. But remember that your number one authority is God so your obedience must always come to him first. Then your other authorities come next. The thing to remember, you may not like the decisions your authorities make, but you still obey (unless it goes against God’s word). Please understand, it’s almost a given that your authorities (parents, boss, teachers, police, etc) will make decisions that you don’t like or that seems unfair. So let me say, obey them, comply. Yes, you can express your opinions and your perspectives on their decision, but when all is said and your authority still stands by their directive, comply and be obedient to them. You have two options:
1. Obey which results in gaining their respect and therefore you face no harm. Or
2. Disobey. In other words, you fight the system. You argue and debate. Refuse to listen. You feel entitled. You exalt yourself over your authority. You’re arrogant. Such attitude and behaviors only result in hurting oneself. You get nowhere in life. You lose people’s respect. It’s a poor testimony for your faith in the Lord. People don’t want to be around you.
Growing up I had several moments of being respectful and obedient. But as I got older in high school there are many times that I enjoyed fighting the system and trying to debate with my authorities. What’s worse is when I’m in my arrogance and non-compliant mood, I always justified my every action. I became blinded to the fact I’m being disobedient to God’s wishes and end up bad mouthing the person I’m in debate with.
God, give me wisdom to always be obedient to you first, and give me the self-awareness of my arrogance when I’m disobedient to my authorities when I shouldn’t be.
