Theme of the Week: You Are What You Do: Lies About Work, Life, and Love
Bible Verse: “I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly; I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.” Ecclesiastes 1:17
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:16-18
If knowledge was the silver bullet to achieving the American Dream, then shouldn’t the most educated be our role models? Wouldn’t they be the ones that have it all and are living the good life? What’s ironic is that the more you know about a specific subject, the more you realize just how much you don’t know about everything else – just ask someone with a PhD.
After living a life devoted to examining and exploring all things under heaven, King Solomon had this to say about the pursuit of knowledge: “As knowledge increases, grief increases (Ecclesiastes 1:18).”
Clearly, Solomon is not dismissing the importance of knowledge. He’s just helping us understand what happens when we make the pursuit of knowledge our life’s goal.
So let’s say, just for a moment, that you do make this your goal. You ignore Solomon, and see yourself through the lens of this lie that you are what you know. What do you think would happen?
No matter how accomplished you become as a result of your knowledge, you will eventually arrive at the same place Solomon did: it never ends and it’s never enough. Pursuing knowledge as an end in and of itself, is like chasing the wind. It’s like trying to stop a leaky corroded pipe with the tip of a sharp pencil. Sure, it will stop the water for a moment, but it’ll only be a matter of time until it bursts again.
Excerpted with permission from You Are What You Do by Daniel Im. Copyright 2020, B&H Publishing Group.
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