There are two passages assigned for today!
SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. [Ecclesiastes 2:24-26]
So what does life look like when we run after things and experiences and wealth and pleasure?
The Teacher is brutally honest, based on his own experience.
This life is meaningless, empty, unsatisfying, as long as it is not rooted in God.
Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” [Luke 12:16-21]
Jesus is telling the same story as the Teacher, and also concludes that everything we invest in for this life will ultimately be lost to us, and that the only things that last are those things that are experienced with God.
To have a rich relationship with God, this is how life in this world becomes rich.
A rich person without God will be truly poor; a poor person with God will truly be rich!
I think that most christians I know would agree with this, and yet to be honest, how many of us (including myself) are still clinging to things and experiences to make us happy?
In my experience, christians are still confused about possessions and finances and what it means to be rich with God.
The problem is the deceptive power of wealth, how it seduces us into thinking that we are better off with money than without it.
How many “rich” christians have an impoverished soul, or see their children neglecting their relationship with God because they have everything their heart desires.
I am part of an immigrant community that came to this country with little or nothing, and now by God’s grace alone live in unbelievable wealth and excess – more than they could have imagined, bigger barns and eating and drinking and being merry in this world, while looking forward to the next world?
As pastor, I hear from people about their impoverished souls, rich people who are poor, whose lives are empty, who feel discontent, that life is meaningless.
And I know my own struggle to experience peace and contentment with the Lord.
Would we give it all up to have a richer relationship with God?
Or are we trying to serve God AND money? And do we think we can do it?
PRAYER:
Lord, show me where I am hanging on to the wrong things for happiness. Show me how to let go of that which hinders me, and to cling to You. I desire a rich relationship with You!