Freedom is Good News Part 95

The opening words of the book of Ecclesiastes let us know that “everything is meaningless, yes utterly meaningless”.  Verse 1 along with verse 12 gives us the understanding that it was King Solomon who penned the book.  He is the man who was given great wisdom from God and yet went astray.  This in itself should cause us to sit up and take notice of what could lead a man of wisdom to walk away from the true God.  Something to think about!!

But as I said in our last installment, “It is my opinion that Solomon came back to his senses and saw his error.  And so the book of Ecclesiastes may be seen as his book of repentance.”  In his book of proverbs Solomon makes this observation “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  Solomon was trained by his father, King David, in the ways of God and when he was older he came back to it.

So why, pray tell, should a book that opens up by telling us everything is meaningless, be the one that can lift us up and help us find satisfaction is all that we do?  Good question, I’m glad you asked!!

But before we tackle that issue let’s do a short outline of the first two chapters.  Chapter 1 verse 1-11: everything is meaningless!  Chapter 1:12-18: wisdom is meaningless!  Chapter 2:1-11: pleasures are meaningless!  2:12-16: wisdom and folly are meaningless!  2:17-26: toil is meaningless!  OK, enough of this Bill, where am I going to find the good news? 

There is a clue to this answer in a phrase that Solomon uses 29 times in this short book of only 12 chapters.  The phrase, “under the sun” is inserted by Solomon in very strategic positions to help us see where the vanity and meaningless activities come from.  Let’s consider some of these examples.  The first instance is found in chapter 1:3, “What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?”  Well, the answer to this rhetorical question is “he gains nothing”.  In other words, you can’t take it with you.  (This reminds me of the story of the rich man who meets St. Peter at the pearly gates with a wheel barrow of gold ingots.  St. Peter takes a look and asks the man why he is bringing paving material into the kingdom.  Ah yes, streets of gold!!!)

We are ultimately, just consumers.  We earn, we spend and we leave the rest to others when we die.  Jesus put it this way in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing.”  The term “flesh” is used here to indicate our life here on earth – it is a wonderful experience that we have been given; but without God, without the hope of eternal life, without the hope of glory, there is no profit in our fleshly existence.  As Solomon put it, “no gain from labor under the sun”.

In chapter 2 Solomon writes this, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. … yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”  We will consider this catch phrase some more in the next article.

Freedom is Good News Part 94

There is an innate desire within each one of us to find satisfaction through the things that we accomplish.  I have had the opportunity to visit with and to counsel people who find their lives unfulfilled.  Perhaps you have found yourself in this situation, wondering what it is all about.  Is there a meaning to our routines that we attend to each and every day?

Do you enjoy your work?  Perhaps the first question to ask is; do you have work to do?  Work in itself can be a great help in finding some inner peace and satisfaction.  Unfortunately, many today feel that it is all about a paycheck.  This is a false motive.  There is a line in a song that I very much enjoy; it says, “Work like you’re worth more than money.”  Think about that.  Is the life you live only worth the money you earn?  Money is just a medium of exchange – I exchange my time at work for money, and then I exchange that money for things.  And some people think that the more money they have the more they will feel fulfilled or the happier they will be. 

A long time ago I learned a precious lesson and it has accompanied me these past many decades; the more things you own, the more they own you!  What is it you really want in life?  Well, I began this article talking about finding satisfaction through the things we accomplish. 

There is a book in the bible that, in my opinion, addresses this subject.  It is a book that I enjoy reading when the things of this life have gotten me down.  It has the tendency to help me center myself in the true meaning and reason that God has placed us here on earth.  The book of Ecclesiastes is a part of the bible called “The Wisdom Literature”. 

This book was written by Solomon and I believe it was written during the latter part of his life.  Perhaps we all know that when Solomon was very young, he was given rulership over all the nation of Israel from his father King David.  God came to him in a dream one night (the episode is found in 2 Chronicles 1) and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”  In verse 10 Solomon said, “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”  First of all this is an amazing request and second, Solomon had the understanding that this nation belonged to God.

Solomon started off really well and impressed all he met with his wisdom and with his wealth.  He reigned very wisely until his wealth and power went to his head.  In 1 Kings Chapter 11 we learn how his many foreign wives turned his attention away from God and toward false gods.  But it is my opinion that Solomon came back to his senses and saw his error.  And so the book of Ecclesiastes may be seen as his book of repentance.

“Meaningless!  Meaningless!” Says the teacher.  “Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.” (Eccl. 1:1)  This first line of the book doesn’t sound like a real pick me up at first blush but hang on – God willing, in the next few weeks, we will do a little study of this book to see if it contains any good news.

Freedom is Good News Part 5

Some time ago I began an article by stating that today “I strive to encourage people to pick up God’s word, read it and study it, so as to be comforted, edified and instructed by these words of life.” Why? I suppose this is one of those curious cases where the answer to the question is sort of stated within the question.

If you were the winner of some $100 million lottery, wouldn’t you want to share it at least with the ones you love? Well, I have something worth more than a paltry monetary figure and, of course, I would like to share it with those I love. The second great commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself”. I find more than “comfort, edification and instruction” in these words of life in the bible; I find joy and I find “the fear of the Lord”. You are my neighbor and I desire to share the fear of the Lord (which is great treasure) with you. How do I do that?

Well let’s piece some things together – Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. OK, so what does the bible say about wisdom? Proverbs 8:11 says, “Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” So if I put 2 and 2 together I find that this $100 million jackpot cannot compare with the wisdom I may obtain from fearing the Lord!! And where do I find this wisdom? The scriptures are replete with wisdom. From one end to the other wisdom may be reaped.

Let us take a look at one chapter in the book of Proverbs – chapter 8. Here we find Solomon personifying the idea of Wisdom. Verse 6: ‘…listen for I (Wisdom) have worthy things to say … Council and sound judgment are mine; … I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than gold and what I yield surpasses silver.’”

I could go on and on, but would you please read this chapter and while you are at it please read chapter one. Chapter one gives us the whole reason for Solomon penning this book of wisdom.

I think that we are all intrigued with the idea of winning the lottery. What could we do with multiple millions of dollars? Yet we all know what the odds are of winning. And we have all read the stories about those who have won and have in some way destroyed their lives. Earthly riches never bring true happiness. Yet God says that we can have great gain! It is more than riches and wealth. We can have a close relationship with the One who created the universe, the One who is life itself and who gives this life to us His creatures. And yet, this physical world is not all He wants to give us. He has more!! And just as any engineer includes a set of instructions with the product he created, God gives us an instruction manual for life – the bible.

Till we meet again, seek wisdom and true riches.