Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, "Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hat a man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. this is also vanity."
So it seems that Solomon had finally come face to face with the age old adage, you can't take it with you when you go. Imagine what a drastic reality this is to someone who literally had everything this world had to offer. You mean that I spent my whole life amassing wealth and possessions and i just have to leave it to some fool who won't know how to use it properly. What exactly was the point in this.
Many would do well to grasp a hold of this basic principle before they vainly waste away their life, as it says in Proverbs 15:16-17, "Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." Sadly Solomon knew this in his youth and forsook it, only to regret that decision in his old age. Now we know that there is nothing wrong with leaving an inheritance, the issue is not leaving an inheritance, it is that Solomons life had been spent in the pursuit of amassing things for himself rather than using his life in being a blessing to others.
I wonder how many are hitching up waggons to their hearses today only to be sadly disappointed when they are planted all alone.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The fruit of seeking the world
Ecclesiastes 2:17 "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wroght under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
So Solomon has done everything that this world has to offer and after all of it he comes to the conclusion that he hates life. I have met many people who have come to that same end. Just think about all the movie and rock stars who have killed themselves or given themselves to lives of drunkenness and drugs. They don't do that because they love life, could it be that they came to the same place that Solomon did, to find out that this world doesn't bring satisfaction.
Unfortunately many believers hate life as well, the reason is that they are looking for joy in the same way. They may sing "oh how I love Jesus", but in their daily actions they are saying "oh how I want the world" such a life will not lead to joy, it can only lead to sorrow. That kind of life will lead to more sorrow than it will for a lost man, because the saved man has the Holy Spirit of God within them that will convict them as they walk away from the path of the Lord.
I sure don't want to hate life, and as long as the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, I won't.
So Solomon has done everything that this world has to offer and after all of it he comes to the conclusion that he hates life. I have met many people who have come to that same end. Just think about all the movie and rock stars who have killed themselves or given themselves to lives of drunkenness and drugs. They don't do that because they love life, could it be that they came to the same place that Solomon did, to find out that this world doesn't bring satisfaction.
Unfortunately many believers hate life as well, the reason is that they are looking for joy in the same way. They may sing "oh how I love Jesus", but in their daily actions they are saying "oh how I want the world" such a life will not lead to joy, it can only lead to sorrow. That kind of life will lead to more sorrow than it will for a lost man, because the saved man has the Holy Spirit of God within them that will convict them as they walk away from the path of the Lord.
I sure don't want to hate life, and as long as the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, I won't.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
what's the difference
Ecclesiastes 2:12-16, "And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. Then i saw taht wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself preceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said i in my heart, As happeneth to the fool, so happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no rememberance of the wise more than the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool."
It is important to catch the context as we continue through the chapter here. remember Solomon just got done telling us that he had not lost his wisdom, but chose to ignore it and seek after all the things of this world. What He found was that there was no satisfaction in them, and they were all empty.
Now he comes to the point that he is going, by his wisdom to to examine the fruit of his experiment. He comes to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if you are wise or a fool, if you mess with the world the outcome is the same. In other words, no one is smart enough to mess with sin and not get dirty. Fire will always burn you. Solomon finds that all his wisdom did him no good and all of his works in this world would amount to no more than the works of a fool since they both spent them in the same manner. What a sad conclusion to a life with such promise.
The truth of the matter is that unless we live our life for God our works will be just as forgotten. Yes many have lived there life for God and no one here remembers them, but in heaven there is a book where their works are written and they will be remembered by God Himself, and those who spent their lives building thing on this earth will be left with nothing, bu those who spent their life building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ will have a sure reward.
It is important to catch the context as we continue through the chapter here. remember Solomon just got done telling us that he had not lost his wisdom, but chose to ignore it and seek after all the things of this world. What He found was that there was no satisfaction in them, and they were all empty.
Now he comes to the point that he is going, by his wisdom to to examine the fruit of his experiment. He comes to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if you are wise or a fool, if you mess with the world the outcome is the same. In other words, no one is smart enough to mess with sin and not get dirty. Fire will always burn you. Solomon finds that all his wisdom did him no good and all of his works in this world would amount to no more than the works of a fool since they both spent them in the same manner. What a sad conclusion to a life with such promise.
The truth of the matter is that unless we live our life for God our works will be just as forgotten. Yes many have lived there life for God and no one here remembers them, but in heaven there is a book where their works are written and they will be remembered by God Himself, and those who spent their lives building thing on this earth will be left with nothing, bu those who spent their life building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ will have a sure reward.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Satisfied
Ecclesiastes 2:3-11, "I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with widsom; and to lay hold on folly, til I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth tree: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
Isn't it interesting how men who know better still feel the need to find out for themselves how bad sin is. Solomon in all his wisdom knew that these things would not satisfy, and yet followed after them. It isn't that he left his God given wisdom behind, through this passage he tells us that his wisdom remained with him. Yet he chose to ignore that wisdom and press on in his pursuit of the flesh. how many times do we do the same. We know that something won't satisfy us, yet we still throw ourselves after the flesh again and again, only to come to the place that we like Solomon say it was all vanity and vexation of spirit.
It doesn't matter if it is wasting your life in wine, or in building great houses, gardens, having servants and possessions, great treasures or exceptional music, there is nothing in this world that will satisfy your flesh. The only thing that satisfies is Jesus Christ, He is wisdom, and He is all we need. It would do us well to be satisfied with Him.
Isn't it interesting how men who know better still feel the need to find out for themselves how bad sin is. Solomon in all his wisdom knew that these things would not satisfy, and yet followed after them. It isn't that he left his God given wisdom behind, through this passage he tells us that his wisdom remained with him. Yet he chose to ignore that wisdom and press on in his pursuit of the flesh. how many times do we do the same. We know that something won't satisfy us, yet we still throw ourselves after the flesh again and again, only to come to the place that we like Solomon say it was all vanity and vexation of spirit.
It doesn't matter if it is wasting your life in wine, or in building great houses, gardens, having servants and possessions, great treasures or exceptional music, there is nothing in this world that will satisfy your flesh. The only thing that satisfies is Jesus Christ, He is wisdom, and He is all we need. It would do us well to be satisfied with Him.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
what's so funny?
Ecclesiastes 2:1-2 "I said in my heart, go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, what doeth it?"
I love to laugh, I believe that most normal people do. The Bible also does not prohibit laughter, thank the Lord. It tells us in Proverbs 17:22, that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. That from the same man who wrote our text passage. So is Solomon contradicting himself? the answer of course is no. As always context is key to the understanding of a passage. Solomon is speaking of the mirth that he sought from the world. In other words, he is talking about seeking joy the worlds way rather than God's. Frequently God tells us to rejoice and be exceeding glad, but the world has a different view of what is fun. The rest of the chapter will begin to tell us how Solomon sought that pleasure, it began with alcohol. We will discuss that in the next post.
In Proverbs 14:9 Solomon himself made note that fools make a mock at sin. Yet as his heart departed from the Lord, he began to find it funny that they mocked the things of righteousness. Much of what passes for humor in our day is just a mockery of sin and more often than not, those who stand against it. Preachers and Bible believers are often the but of the joke, but sadly those who seek such mirth will find that it may cause a chuckle for a moment, but behold, it is vanity.
I love to laugh, I believe that most normal people do. The Bible also does not prohibit laughter, thank the Lord. It tells us in Proverbs 17:22, that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. That from the same man who wrote our text passage. So is Solomon contradicting himself? the answer of course is no. As always context is key to the understanding of a passage. Solomon is speaking of the mirth that he sought from the world. In other words, he is talking about seeking joy the worlds way rather than God's. Frequently God tells us to rejoice and be exceeding glad, but the world has a different view of what is fun. The rest of the chapter will begin to tell us how Solomon sought that pleasure, it began with alcohol. We will discuss that in the next post.
In Proverbs 14:9 Solomon himself made note that fools make a mock at sin. Yet as his heart departed from the Lord, he began to find it funny that they mocked the things of righteousness. Much of what passes for humor in our day is just a mockery of sin and more often than not, those who stand against it. Preachers and Bible believers are often the but of the joke, but sadly those who seek such mirth will find that it may cause a chuckle for a moment, but behold, it is vanity.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
the heart of the matter
Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
It is my desire to get back to the study that we had begun in Ecclesiastes and continue to try to glean truth from there. You can review the previous six devotions in the history of this blog if you would like.
the first statement in this verse is what we want to meditate on today, that being here Solomon notes that "I said in mine heart" The heart in the Bible in this context is not speaking about the organ in your chest, but rather it is synonymous with the soul of man. the soul is your intellect(how you think, Prov. 23:7), your will (such as in this passage), and your emotions (I Kings 11:3-4, Solomons heart was turned because of his emotions).
It is common to hear people say, follow your heart, however that is a dangerous prospect according to the Bible. It says in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it. Solomons problems began when he stoped following the direct Word of God that he had received, and the Godly wisdom that had been given to him, and began to follow his heart instead.
We should be careful that we never let our hearts lead us away from the Lord and deceive us.
It is my desire to get back to the study that we had begun in Ecclesiastes and continue to try to glean truth from there. You can review the previous six devotions in the history of this blog if you would like.
the first statement in this verse is what we want to meditate on today, that being here Solomon notes that "I said in mine heart" The heart in the Bible in this context is not speaking about the organ in your chest, but rather it is synonymous with the soul of man. the soul is your intellect(how you think, Prov. 23:7), your will (such as in this passage), and your emotions (I Kings 11:3-4, Solomons heart was turned because of his emotions).
It is common to hear people say, follow your heart, however that is a dangerous prospect according to the Bible. It says in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it. Solomons problems began when he stoped following the direct Word of God that he had received, and the Godly wisdom that had been given to him, and began to follow his heart instead.
We should be careful that we never let our hearts lead us away from the Lord and deceive us.
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