May 2 – Meaningful Riches (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)

“I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good’.”(Ecclesiastes 2:1)

IN WORD:
An exceedingly wealthy businessman who recently had bypass surgery was asked in an interview how the experience would change his life. He responded that he would spend more money and never, for. One example, let any wine that cost less than $100 per bottle pass through his lips. His great insight in his time of crisis was that life is short and must be lived to its fullest. That’s not a bad philosophy, if one knows how to define a “full” life. But his definition reflected a faulty foundation based on very short-lived values.
A mature Christian disciple can recognize the fallacy of temporal pleasure as a life goal. We live for something much more lasting than the cult of earthly empires and personal gain — real pleasure based on the realities of God’s kingdom and our fellowship with Him. This, at least, is our ideal. But if we examine ourselves carefully, we’ll often find a conflict within us — a revulsion toward the businessman’s philosophy but a lifestyle that reflects it. Human nature since the Fall is to build a heaven on earth, to reconstruct Eden. Though we are promised an eternal heaven, we want heaven here, too. Can’t you see it in the comforts we crave and the prayers we raise? Eden is always just out of our reach, but we keep on reaching.

IN DEED:
Solomon tells us in this Scripture what a life of investing in the temporal accomplishes: nothing. His resume of investments is impressive, but he is disappointed — even disillusioned — with the profit. It’s all meaningless, he concludes. One day we will die, and unless we’ve invested in the eternal, nothing remains.
Contrast the futility of Ecclesiastes with the riches of the gospel of Jesus. There is an inheritance that comes from God. The rich businessman missed it, even when confronted with death. Multitudes do. But the eyes of faith can see the riches of the Kingdom of God. Learn to live for them, at all costs.

“The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.” -John Henry Jowett-

May 1 – Meaningful Desire (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)

“The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.”(Ecclesiastes 1:8)

IN WORD:
Human nature is never satisfied. Whatever gifts God has given us, we want more. When we’ve gotten a taste of God’s generosity, our appetites are whetted, not filled. We are always waiting for the next good thing.
The good thing about our constant quest for more is that, when rightly directed, we can have it. This may be surprising to those of us who have heard sermon after sermon on the virtues of contentment. It’s true that desire for the things of this world, as Solomon describes, is never fully satisfied. But there is a godly craving that is rewarded with blessing upon blessing. . If our dissatisfaction moves us toward God and His Kingdom rather than toward temporal fulfillments, it is a holy dissatisfaction. It will eventually be rewarded. God never denies those who want more of Him.
Read what Solomon says in the scripture verse above. Is this bad, as he implies? Or can it be good? That depends. It’s bad if our eternal cravings are misdirected toward temporal things. It’s good if we’re seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

IN DEED:
Are you dissatisfied with life? Ask your self why? If you are filling your life with things that don’t last, you will never be satisfied at all. How can you be? The things you seek are not inherently satisfying.
But God is. If you are filling your life with Him (and letting Him fill your life with Himself), He will satisfy, and when you grow discontent again, He will give more. You will find yourself fully content for a time, and then realize there is so much more of Him to discover. Your holy craving will drive you deeper into His presence. That’s not a problem. He is inexhaustible in His riches. We can forever explore Him, and if we want more, there will be more to find.

“Let temporal things serve your use, but the eternal be the object of your desire.” -Thomas ‘A Kempis-

April 30 – Meaningful Hope (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)

“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

IN WORD:
Conquerors win countries, politicians win elections, competitors win championships, and corporations win takeovers. Sometimes such victories will have an effect for years, centuries, and occasionally even millennia. More often, their memory fades with the passing of a generation. Either way, they are never permanent. Like sandcastles on the beach, the works of an ingenious and ambitious race are susceptible to the incoming tide. We are created with eternal longings but have fallen into the bondage of time. Nothing we do lasts.
That was the view of an old king who had seen empires flourish and die, and who had come to know the fleeting nature of his own riches. He was right, of course — from a purely human perspective. He was facing the angst common to all who look back on their life’s work with any depth of perspective.
But that perspective is limited by the boundaries of human wisdom. It is the conclusion at which we all arrive when we depend on our own reasoning. It is wisdom without revelation — all brain and no Spirit. We who depend on God’s revelation in all its fullness know the foundation for hope: An eternal Kingdom is being built, and what we do today can bear eternal results.

IN DEED:
Statistics say one of the most common maladies of our generation is hopelessness. There is a pervasive sense among our peers that this visible life is all there is — and that’s just not enough for most people.
We have 2 necessary responses: (1) We must not let the hopelessness of our age infect us. We are to fix our hope on eternity. And, (2) we must share that hope with an anxiety-ridden generation. They are convinced that our hope is groundless. We must convince them that it isn’t. That is, we are told, one of the most meaningful, lasting things we can do.

“Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.” -Gilbert Brenken-