Soft Ball Stage

Daily Reading: Ecclesiastes 8

The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. (Ecclesiastes 8.5)

Devotional Thought: I learned how to make fudge by watching my mother.  I never quite got it right.  I could get all the ingredients right, but there is a point in cooking fudge that's called "soft ball stage."  Cook it too long, and the fudge will crystallize as hard as a rock - capable of dulling knives and breaking teeth!  Not long enough?  The fudge turns out like taffy - requiring a spoon to eat it and capable of extracting fillings!  My daughters loved it when I made that error.  We would all just grab a spoon!  And their mom couldn't really tell how much they were eating!

The wise man of Ecclesiastes saw that many things in life are like making fudge.  You must have both the ingredients and timing right: "The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.”  Wisdom dictates that we...

·       Do the right thing.  How do we know what the right thing (just way) is?  As Christians, we have great resources, the first of which is the Bible.  We also have the Holy Spirit to teach us.  We have our consciences, enlightened by our culture, our family and the Church.  We have other Christians who offer wisdom from experience.

·       At the right time.  The ingredients may be straightforward.  It's the timing that can get tricky.  I know from experience that doing the right thing at the wrong time can turn out disastrous.  It takes a lifetime of learning to discern the right time.  Most importantly, it takes the Holy Spirit's guidance and patience.   Perhaps this is where the "soft" in "soft ball stage" comes in.

Prayer: Grant, O Lord, that your servant would have a wise heart, that I would do what is just and do it at the proper time.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 14.1-3

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God. ”They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.