IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE TOO COMMITTED TO GOD

It has been said that, “If you are too heavenly minded, you are no earthly good.” Is it therefore possible to be too holy and righteous? Is it possible to be too committed and obedient to the Word of God? Or to pray too much?

The only voice in the Bible which questions such wholehearted commitment is found in Solomon’s Ecclesiastes. Solomon was a man who had absolutely everything - wives, wealth, respect, wisdom, power. However, he hated his life. Having all of his fundamental needs met, he proceeded on his unsuccessful wisdom quest to uncover the meaning of life. However, from his limited wisdom perspective, he found that he was unable to penetrate the curtain of this life to see if anything laid behind it:

• “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless...So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me...I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun...A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil...” (Ecclesiastes 2:14-15, 17-18, 24 NIV)

• “Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals...As one dies, so dies the other...humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless...Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 21-22)

Solomon despaired of his wisdom quest, since it failed to answer the essential questions, although he still valued wisdom as it applies to this life. Therefore, he wrongly concluded:

• “In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness. Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?” (Ecclesiastes 7:15-17)

Lacking the necessary illumination and revelation that can only come from Above, Solomon concluded that we shouldn’t try to be too wise or righteous. The payoff wasn’t wasn’t there, as he saw it.

In contrast, we have been graced with the revelation of our real hope, what awaits us on the opposite side of the curtain. God had warned His prophets that much of what they were writing had been hidden from them. Instead, they were writing for our encouragement (1 Peter 1:10-12).

To us, God liberally provides wisdom (James 1:5). He opens us minds so that we can perceive His eternal wisdom through His Word (Luke 24:45). It is this glorious revelation that encourages us to endure wisely and righteously. Therefore, we do not find any warnings in the Scriptures, as we find in Ecclesiastes, against trying to be too wise or righteous. There are no limits upon how much we give to our Savior who is everything for us:

• It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Since He is everything to us, we are called to be everything to Him:

• “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37-38)