Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Eccl. 1:12  ¶ I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 

Eccl. 1:13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 

Eccl. 1:14 I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 

Eccl. 1:15 What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. 

Eccl. 1:16 ¶ I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” 

Eccl. 1:17 And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 

Eccl. 1:18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. 

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It has been said that ignorance is bliss.  I have to admit to being an intellectual.  I love to read, I love to learn about new things, there is something in me that desires to know more and to understand.  As we grow in knowledge and understanding, we begin to realize that we live in a jacked up world.  Our knowledge and understanding doesn't help us to fix things.  To look at the poverty, injustice, the inherent brokenness of the world we are surrounded by, none of us has the wisdom to repair what is broken.  We can take steps to improve things, but in the end we can do nothing to bring an end to them.

Wisdom isn't a bad thing, Solomon experimented with being foolish also.  Foolishness is worse than wisdom.  The fool is not burdened with an understanding of the brokenness of the world as the wise man is, but he creates the brokenness in his own life.  To be a fool with money, with relationships, with the simple things we do each day.  It creates our own pain.  I know a man who makes decisions based on the rationale of a child, he makes himself miserable.

I'm thankful for the wisdom that God has given me, but I also realize that it can not save me and it can not save this world.  Only the love of Christ can save me and save the world.  My heart aches because I see the brokenness and I desire to do something, I seek the Lord to understand what it means to truely love the way Christ loves.  Wisdom is an instrument, but God's love is the hand that moves it.