Ecclesiastes 12:10 – “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.”
In this last chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon is detailing his motives in writing the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as well as explaining the process he used to write down the wisdom that God had given unto him. His motive was pure; he wanted to memorialize the truths that God had entrusted unto him and ensure that God’s people would always know how to live wisely and prudently before the Lord. God, who gave that wisdom to Solomon and also inspired Solomon to preserve such wisdom by recording it, still uses those words today to instruct His children.
Today’s devotion centers on how Solomon decided exactly what to write in those proverbs.
In this one verse, we can glimpse the tremendous effort that Solomon put forth in recording that wisdom with ink. Solomon knew that God had inspired him to write down what God had revealed unto him, which meant that Solomon realized that he was tasked with being the mouthpiece of God. The words were written by Solomon’s hand, but Solomon desired his hand to lead of God. That’s why the preacher sought out acceptable words. Only acceptable could be upright in the eyes of the Lord. Only acceptable words could convey the truth of a Holy God to sin-cursed man.
Still, the task of finding words that were acceptable may not seem overly complicated when you casual read verse 10. That is because we read the word acceptable with modern day definitions in mind. Acceptable, in our time, means passable, or just good enough to get by. That is not what verse 10 is saying. ACCEPTABLE means something completely different in the verse above.
Consider: Solomon was seeking to find the words that God would find acceptable, not words that Solomon found acceptable. What does the Almighty God of Heaven find acceptable? Holiness, faith and diligent service rendered with one’s best efforts. God only accepts perfection, and when we fervently seek out what we must do, the Lord will perform the perfect work in spite of our imperfect state. Because when He sees us, He sees Christ.
Solomon understood that his actions would be perceived as the words of God, for he was the King that God had given to His chosen people. We likewise are ambassadors of Christ and we know that our testimony is as a written epistle that is known and read by all those around us. So my question for this devotion is: “Are you acceptable before God?”
Do you speak the exact words you believe God would have you utter? Do you act as the scriptures tell us that Christ acted? Do you fear the God of Heaven enough to fervently seek out and “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” in your daily walk?
We should never settle for what others may think is permissible, what we individually find good enough, or even what the church collectively thinks is satisfactory. It should be our soul’s desire to know what is acceptable to God and perform it because that is what Paul described as our “reasonable service.” But while we strive to do the acceptable thing for God, we must persist in seeking out the acceptable manner that God would have us perform it. Unless the Lord does the work, we labor in vain. Yet, the Lord will not do the work unless we are performing our part acceptably in His sight.
Your fellowservant in Christ, Bro. Jordan Foster
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