Solomon hits us with an important reminder not to make rash promises before God.  If we have ever been in a bad spot, it is very easy for us to make promises that we’ll never been able to keep.  It’s like in the movie Stand By Me when Vern gets spooked in the woods and begins to babble on with false and desperate promises to God about how he’ll never swear again.  Solomon’s words today remind us not to approach God’s throne foolishly:  

Ecc 5:1  As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.

Ecc 5:2  Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few.

This is actually a good reminder to us to have a better understanding of God, knowing who He is, what He delights in and what He detests.  That is all laid out for us in the Bible.  the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself for man to understand.  When we know God better, we have a more sound understanding on how to approach Him, which should be often.  Not just living our worldly lives, and then when bad times hit, only then approaching God with empty promises.  the Bible today tells us that mindless offerings to God are evil and furthermore, that God us up there and we are down here.  We don’t approach our superiors here on earth disrespectfully, nor should we approach our ultimate superior, our Creator foolishly….so the long and the short of today’s devotion, know who God is, and the best way to do that is to read the Bible that was authored by God for man to better know who God is.