When I was growing up, there was one thing that I knew at an early age, and that was you were expected to work hard. No one took it easy, at least very often. I was surrounded by hard workers, and I was expected to do the same. There’s something to be said about a job well done, and it feels great to finish. I wonder about those who don’t work hard. Solomon has a word for those; “foolish.”

In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon gives us a few words of wisdom (of course) for parents, as well as those in leadership positions. He says that the foolish are easy to spot, and that they can ruin a lot of things that the wise have worked hard to accomplish.

In verses 1-3, he says,
1 As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

3 You can identify fools
just by the way they walk down the street!

At first thought, I wondered if it was rue that the foolish wwere so easy spot. I think, at times, it is. Of course, if you watch the news you see it nightly. But then there are those times that your spirit tells you, warns you, that you are around or dealing with someone who is foolish. I pray that I don’t have to deal with that when my daughter one day introduces me to her boyfriend!

On the leadership side, certainly there are times that we have to deal with those who are less motivated than we want them to be. In verse 15, Solomon puts it this way,
“Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.”

Again, I go back to my childhood. I was raised knowing what hard work was, and I honestly believe that is a rarity in today’s society. There aren’t many I have found that come into the “real world” with an understanding of how to work. That falls on us parents.

There’s something to be said about experience and qualifications. Too many people believe God is just going to give them the six-figure income and corner office, for no other reason than being themselves! As leaders, we need to make sure that we are choosing and making wise decisions on those we put into leadership positions. As parents, we need to choose wisely when it comes to rewarding our children.

Solomon actually admonishes those things he had witnessed up to that point. In verse 5-6, he says
“

There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.”

See exactly how Solomon describes this? He says it’s “evil.” He says it’s a “grave mistake” when the wrong people are in the wrong places. It’s a mistake to just put people or reward people with position, status, or any other form of award without merit. This is much different from blessing someone who has a need in their life. What Solomon is referring to here is that “good old boy” network, or illegal kickbacks and preferences.

We have a lot to consider! Solomon has definitely challenged us as parents, leaders, managers, or wherever we are in life. If it’s dealing with coworkers, employees, or our kids, he has given us some words to teach.

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Have you ever been at that crossroad of a decision that you knew could affect someone in a powerful way? Or maybe, you knew instantly that you should do something. I have. I knew that someone needed something, and I had to react. I knew that my decision would have an impact on that person, either in a good way, or a bad one. But, I knew I was supposed to do something.

The key word there was supposed to do something. The implication is that there are times when I’ve done nothing. I have not responded to the need. I have seen it, knew what was needed, and in my moment of indecision, I let the opportunity slip away. It was a moment that I will never get  back. Time is unforgiving. Its judgement is immediate, and it looks only at the moment in which it happens.

As I read John 19 this morning, I looked at Pilate in that way. Jesus stood before Him, and Pilate seemed to not want anything to do with Him. He did not find any guilt in Jesus (because there was none to find). Pilate, multiple times, tried to set Jesus free. He told the crowd in verse 6, “I find him not guilty.” When the crowds shouted that Jesus said He was the Son of God, Pilate flinched. This brief moment is recorded in 8-10.

“When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. ⁹ He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. ¹⁰ “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

I know, in my mind, I can see the fear in his eyes. I believe at this moment he was at that crucial decision. I believe he realized exactly what was going on, and that he was being asked to handle something that was way beyond him. Pilate was at the crucial point. He had to react, and react in the right way. Time was about to judge him, as was God.

In the end, Pilate turned Jesus over to be crucified. When it came time to react, to make that decision, he flinched again. To quote the ancient soldier in Indiana Jones (who was guarding the Holy Grail), “You have chosen…poorly.” (I use that phrase a lot by the way, even to myself!)

Pilate knew what the right answer was, he knew what he should do, and that is why he struggled with it. It was that moment in which he had to do something. His answer was to do nothing.

James summarizes these types of actions. In James 4:17, he says, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (NLT).

So, is Pilate the only focus here? Of course not. I think we have those moments all the time. There is one that sticks out in my mind from just a couple of weeks ago. We were on our way to Luby’s. There was a lady standing on the corner of the street, holding a sign, that said her husband had died, and that she had lost everything. She just needed help. She needed love. She needed the kind of love Jesus talks about. So, as we sat at that light, in the span of red to green, I flinched. We went to Luby’s without her. We went without giving her anything. I made an indecision. It still haunts me (obviously). I had a chance to make a difference, and I knew what I needed to do, and yet, I did nothing. I flinched.

What are you struggling with today? What moment is it you wish you could have back? That moment of indecision makes a difference. Here’s the catch; there will be another chance. Make up for it. Learn from that moment. Make that next moment the moment you take control and do the right thing. When you get the chance, make a decision.

Indecision is not an option.

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Kids are sponges. They take in every bit of everything they see. Their brains just absorb so much, it is amazing. My daughter learned to write cursive in kindergarten, and my sons who haven’t even started school yet probably know more dinosaur names than I do. In as much as they are learning those things, they are also watching me. They have taken in, and continue to do so, who I am. They are not fooled. They see me and know me. They model after me.

I’ve heard it said that kids should do as I say and not as I do. The thought there is that while we want our kids to be on their best behavior, or always do the right thing, we realize that they see the real us. They are going to do the things that we do. Is that a good thing? Well, it depends on who you really are. It depends on what the kids see you do and what they hear you say. They will model your behavior. Mine say and do things that I recognize immediately. It’s a good check for your condition. Want to know how you’re doing? Listen to what kids tell other adults!

Likewise, Jesus was the reflection of God. See, in the Old Testament, God gave Moses the law. Though Moses didn’t really see God, he was given God’s law. That told us what God’s expectations were. We didn’t really see God in that, but we had an idea.

Enter Jesus. It was Jesus who showed us what God is like. He showed us how God loves, His mercy, His grace, His expectations. We saw who God is because we saw Jesus. The disciples give us first hand accounts of His life. Jesus was fully man, and yet, fully God.

The disciple John wrote of this. In John 1:18-19, he said, “¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” 

 What an incredible gift! See, before Jesus, we could only know God through the law. But, with Jesus, we can see God’s heart. We can see that we were made for a purpose. We were made to follow Christ, to be like Him, to follow His model! We are called to be a reflection of Christ! John told of John the Baptist’s proclamations of Jesus. Though many recognized John the Baptist as a prophet, and many even confused him with possibly being the savior, John clarifies and says in verse 8 (of chapter 1) “John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.”  The first time I read about John the Baptist and how people didn’t understand him, it confused me.  But, here’s what I realized: he was being a reflection of who we were supposed to be.

What condition are you in today? Do people see that you “walk the talk” or do they even know your talk? What does your talk say about your faith? What does your life say about your faith? If your kids followed you and your example, what would they be following?

I heard it this way once: If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

If you told someone, your kids, anyone– to do as you do, what would you be telling them? Where would you be leading them? If it’s to Christ, then you are on the right track. Jesus said to follow Him. We are able to do as He said, and as He did.

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I was never really good at building models. I tried the toy car thing, and usually broke too many pieces to really make it look like the car it was supposed to be. It looked more like it was in the shop getting repaired than it was a fine, smooth, finished project! I even tried the airplanes, and that didn’t work either. Despite my failures at building, I still enjoyed the work of those who were good at it. Were there flaws? Perhaps, but man, a good model is a thing of wonder!

The discipline it takes to be able to finish one of those models it what amazed me. Too often I’d rather see it if I could make it fly across the living room (out of frustration) than to see if I could finish it. But when you step back and look at the finished product, it is amazing how closely it looks just like the real thing! There are details that you never even dreamed about adding to these things. Literally, if you could make one expand about 50 times its size, it would be the real thing.

Where does that put me? What do my kids see when they look at me as a model of a man? If they were to magnify who I am, would they say, “that is a man.” Or would they look at me and see the broken pieces, the model unfinished, laying there, given up on, and unfinished? I pray they don’t.  I pray that they one day look at it, and see the details they couldn’t have dreamed of. The parts that come together in dad, man, husband, son, brother, friend, and Christian–do they make a finished model worth looking at? Is it someone my boys want to be? Is it the type of man who my daughter wants to find when she’s ready to marry?

What about to Mandie? Does she look at the model in front of her and see  a model of marriage? Does it look like Christ loving the church? Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Is that true of my love for her? Do I love her, and make her feel that type of love? When she looks at it closer, is it going to look like the real thing?

What about me looks like the model of Christ? If my goal is to look more and more like Him, do I? If I looked at my life, and blew it up 50 times, and compared it to THE real thing, what does it look like? When that day comes and I stand before God, and He compares me to The Model, His Son Jesus, what is it going to look like?

It’s going to be broken, imperfect, and a few pieces missing. But, there will be a lot of tape, glue, sweat, tears, and blood on that thing because I’m going to keep trying to fix it. Every day. It’s going to take discipline, a steady hand, and perseverance. It means changing who I am at times, and finding what I am supposed to be. And when God let’s me enter into His presence, I can’t wait to see what He makes this model look like:

The Model.

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