Thursday Thought -- February 19, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.  This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-15)

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” So the saying goes. It’s wrong! The man who dies with great wealth and the man who dies penniless both take the same amount with them beyond the grave -- nothing! If the purpose you pursue in life is to accumulate wealth, you have chosen a futile pursuit.

Solomon mentions several reasons why the pursuit of wealth is an unworthy pursuit.

A person who makes the pursuit of wealth his goal will never have enough wealth to be satisfied. There is always more that can be sought.

The more a person accumulates, the more he has to take care of. Vast wealth brings vast responsibility to protect it and make decisions about it.

The more wealth a person has, the more worries he has, too. The poor man can go to sleep with few things to worry about, but the rich man stews over all the things that can take away what he has accumulated.

The accumulation of wealth brings the temptation to the owner to hoard it for his own selfish reasons.

Wealth is not meant to be accumulated, hoarded, and worried over. It is meant to be enjoyed and used in the ways God desires us to use what He has entrusted to us. Recognize that what we gather while on earth does not belong to us. It belongs to God and is given to us in trust to use for His purposes. Pursue wealth for its own value and you pursue that which is worthless. Understand that wealth is a trust from God and it can bring great joy and satisfaction in using what He has given to please Him.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- February 18, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7)

We should treat God with the kind of reverence and awe that He deserves.

There are those who attempt to tell God what is right and what He is to do. That’s the wrong approach to the Creator and Ruler of all things. The right approach is to recognize our own ignorance and lack of understanding and so to listen carefully to try to hear and understand what He is saying. It is presumptuous to think that we can teach God anything or set Him straight. It reflects a proper attitude when we come humbly to Him ready to listen, ready to acknowledge that what He says is always right, and ready to obey what He asks.

When God spoke from heaven at the Transfiguration to confirm that Jesus was His Son, His concluding instruction to the apostles was, “Listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:5) The Transfiguration comes shortly after Peter’s attempt to tell Jesus that they would never allow Him to be killed. Jesus rebuked Peter with the strongest rebuke He ever used, “Get behind me, Satan.” God is confirming that Peter’s attitude is the opposite of right. We aren’t to correct God and try to assert that we know what’s best for God to do. An attitude of humility and submission is the right attitude in approaching God. Come with confidence of His love and power, but come with humility and a willingness to listen and obey.

God deserves our worship. He deserves our submission. He deserves our reverence and awe.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- February 17, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Solo is lonely and difficult.

When Jesus sent out the apostles to spread the news of the Kingdom, He sent them two-by-two. When He sent out a larger group of disciples, seventy or so, He did the same, each was assigned a partner for the task. Jesus knew that the chance of discouragement was much greater if He sent them out alone. He knew that together they would be bolder and be more likely to stay the course that He had set for them. They would support each other, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable.

For many, marriage provides that same kind of help. God puts a man and a woman together to support each other, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable. In marriage, He creates a team of partners with common goals and direction. He establishes a partnership that is to the benefit of both parties. Each is stronger because they are tied together.

A football team is more than the sum of the individual abilities of the various players. In a team that is working right, the team is stronger because they work together. They make up for each other’s weaknesses and capitalize on each other’s strengths.

Teamwork … partnership … that is God’s design for improving what happens in the world He has created.

Thank God for the partners you have in various aspects of your life. Remember how important they are to what God wants to accomplish in you and through you.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- February 16, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Solomon learned that God has “set eternity in the hearts of men.” There is an emptiness in the heart of mankind that is only filled by connecting with God.

It was Blaise Pascal who made the same point when he talked of the “God-sized hole” in the hearts of men that can only be filled by God.

People attempt to fill that emptiness with many things other than God. They try hard work and career advancement. They try giving themselves to all kinds of pleasure. They try accumulating wealth. They try drugs and alcohol to extremes. In all of these ways and many more, men and women are trying to dull the feeling of emptiness that they feel.

But none of those pursuits will ever fill the emptiness. The hole will remain until they surrender their lives to God. In that surrender, and only in that surrender, the emptiness is filled. That’s the way God has created us. He has created us to need Him.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- February 13, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

Solomon tried pleasure thinking it would bring fulfillment and satisfaction to his life. But he did not find it there.  Instead, in the end he found pleasure to be meaningless.

“I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ But that also proved to be meaningless. ‘Laughter,’ I said, ‘is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?’ I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly - my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3)

Can you find pleasure in a bottle of wine? Perhaps it will dull the pain for a short time, but the pain comes back with greater strength when the effect of the wine grows dim. To stay in a drunken stupor robs you of all of life. Wine isn’t the answer to purpose and meaning in life. It doesn’t add meaning, it takes it away, glass by glass.

Can you find meaning in laughter? The life of the jokester seems happy, but nothing is accomplished. The laughter fades and the jokes grow cold and there is no meaning left in that path.

Choose your pleasure, pursue it with all the fervor you can muster. It only leads to a dead end. The path of pleasure is filled with lights and noise and nothing more.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy life. God has given us all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17) What it does mean is that we shouldn’t make the pursuit of pleasure the goal and purpose of our lives. To do that really does make life meaningless.

There must be something better than pleasure to pursue --- and there is!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- February 12, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

The old saying goes, “All work and no play makes Tom a dull boy.” That’s a saying about balance and priorities in life. So is what Solomon says above!

There is a time to give yourself to work, to work hard and to focus on your job. But a person who works too many hours or focuses too much on work is a workaholic and he damages other aspects of his life. It’s not healthy to work too many hours or to focus too much on your job. Family suffers, spiritual life suffers, health suffers, fun suffers.

The opposite is also true. There is a time to give yourself just to having fun, to play. But a person who plays too many hours or focuses too much on play accomplishes nothing in life. Such a person damages other aspects of his life. His family and friends grow weary of the playaholic. He has a hard time financially supporting himself and his family. His spiritual life suffers.

Solomon goes on and on listing other aspects of life. They each have their place. None of them is meant to be the total focus of life. None of them is intended to dominate time, energy, or thought.

It’s about priorities. It’s about putting everything in proper perspective. It’s about a well-ordered life.

If an unbiased observer were given total access to your life -- to how you spend your time, your money, your energy, even your thoughts -- would he find balance and perspective? Or would he find things all out of whack?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- February 11, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: ‘Meaningless!  Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.’” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)

Solomon had the opportunity to sample most of what the world has to offer.

He was wealthy beyond anyone else in his time.

He knew power, ruling over a larger section of the world than any other king of Israel.

He knew pleasure, with hundreds of wives and hundreds of concubines and any kind of pleasure he wanted.

He knew the results of hard work, laboring to build a great Temple and to accomplish

much in his life.

He knew fame, with word of his wisdom and glory spreading throughout the world.

He had tasted most of what the world has to offer -- all that it offered in his day. And this is his conclusion, “Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.”

None of what the world has to offer means anything in the long term. At the end of life, the accomplishments of this world seem small and worthless.

Even the greatest wealth eventually turns to dust and none of it can be taken with you.

The most powerful man in the world can do nothing to overcome death and all his power ends as he grows weak and dies.

Pleasure feels good for the moment, but the moment passes and the pleasure passes with it.

Hard work accomplishes something in the short term, but the most glorious result of man’s work crumbles with time.

Even the most famous of men and women fade from memory over the years after their passing.

What the world has to offer just isn’t worth giving your life to. To find something meaningful you’ll have to look beyond this world.

His. by Grace,

Steve