In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness,

and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life and his evil doing. Be not overly righteous

and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked,

neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you should take hold of this and from that withhold not your hand.

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Ecclesiastes 7.15 through 18.

This is a difficult passage of Scripture to understand.

What do you mean, Solomon?

ought we to be less holy? Less wise? How on earth could somebody be overly righteous,

given that righteousness exalts a people, Proverbs 1434, which Solomon wrote, by the way,

that we are called as well to be holy like God the Father is holy, 1. Peter 1, 16 to 17.

And that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we won't see the

kingdom of heaven, Matthew 520. Is Solomon really telling us to take it easy in the pursuit of

holiness and wisdom? In this episode of Brightheart, we'll discover that far from a call to embrace mediocrity and

sinfulness, this passage in Ecclesiastity 7 offers us practical help in keeping our ships

from running aground on a few hidden reefs that have put a hole in many a passing vessel.

Join us as we talk about hyper-scrupulosity, self-indulgence, and what these have to do

with the productive Christian household.

Well, welcome back to Bright Harth, everybody.

Brian here, joined by my lovely wife and current human incubator.

Lexi, Lexi.

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