Day 247: Do It!

Welcome to Day 247 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 7:8-14; Psalm 48; and Proverbs 22:17-19. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

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Welcome to day 247 of the Bible 365 podcast. My name is Randy Goudo and today we're going to be reading through Ecclesiastes chapters 7 through 9, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 8 through 16, Psalm chapter 48, and Proverbs chapter 22 verses 17 through 19. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. A good name is better than fine perfume, and one's day of death is better than his day of birth. It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool. Do not say, Why were the old days better than these? For it is unwise of you to ask about this. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun. For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. Consider the work of God, who can straighten what he has bent. In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this. God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him. In my feudal life I have seen both of these, a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings. Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. All this I tested by wisdom, saying, I resolved to be wise, but it was beyond me. What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it? I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. Behold, says the teacher, I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. Only this have I found. I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed. Keep the king's command, I say, because of your oath before God. Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. For the king's word is supreme, and who can say to him, What are you doing? Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him. Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come? As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment. Then too I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so, this too is futile. When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in his presence. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. There is a futility that is done on the earth. There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile. So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth, though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night, I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning. Even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend. Ecclesiastes chapter 9. So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God's hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. It is the same for all. There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner. As it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow. This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun. There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead. There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living, for even a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun. Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works. Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head. Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun. Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. I saw something else under the sun. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all, for surely no man knows his time. Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them. I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me. There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it. Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. And I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded. The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 2 Corinthians 7, verses 8 through 16. Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it, for I see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. Yet now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you. What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication. In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God. On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus, for his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well, and his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling. I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you. Psalm 48. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful and loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Xaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great king. God is in her citadels, he has shown himself to be a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled, they all advanced together. They saw and were astounded, they fled in terror. Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman and labor. With a wind from the east you wrecked the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, God will establish her forever. Selah. Within your temple, O God, we contemplate your loving devotion. Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness. Mount Zion is glad. The daughters of Judah rejoice on account of your judgments. March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers, consider her ramparts, tour her citadels, that you may tell the next generation. For this God is our God for ever and ever. He will be our guide even till death. Proverbs 22, verses 17 through 19. Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, apply your mind to my knowledge, for it is pleasing when you keep them within you, and they are constantly on your lips, so that your trust may be in the Lord. I instruct you today, yes, you. Today's devotional is coming from Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 10. It says, Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might. For in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. So whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might. That means work, planning, knowledge, wisdom, everything, whatever it is that you can find to do with your hands, do it with all your might. This is very difficult today for a lot of people because we are living in such a distracted state of mind. You know, we have people that are just engulfed watching cases that they have no insight to, no real knowledge, no wisdom, and yet we'll scroll and watch video clip after video clip getting rage-baited into something that is an absolute and complete waste of time. And while you're doing that, you're not doing whatever you find to do with your hands, with all your might. There is a work that God has called you to, and it's gonna take some planning, knowledge, wisdom, and all of your hands on deck. Let's strive today to not be distracted, but whatever it is that we find to do with our hands on the job, in your church, in your ministry, amongst your family, do it with all your might, and let's believe for all of the planning, knowledge, and wisdom that's needed to come alongside the work of our hands. Let's pray. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. May we not be a distracted people today. May we, with whatever we find to do with our hands, do it with all our might. Guide us in our planning and give us knowledge and wisdom. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me and know that I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day two forty eight.