SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/5/2013
8:09 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Don’t Rob
Yourself PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eccl.
5:10-20
Message of the
verses: A couple or reminders for
review before we look at the passages in this section. First I want to be reminded of what Solomon
is doing in this chapter, “In this chapter, Solomon issues three warnings that
relate to the values of life.” In the
section we looked at yesterday and today we will see that Solomon is
demolishing several of the myths that people hold about wealth.
Wealth brings peace of mind (vs.12): “12 People who work hard sleep well, whether
they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep (NLT).” “12 The sleep of the working man is pleasant,
whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not
allow him to sleep (NASB).”
It seems that Solomon is talking about more than indigestion
in this verse for Solomon is saying that no matter how much the common labor eats
he will sleep well because he has worked hard and is tired, but the rich man
will probably eat too much and then worry about losing his riches so he will
not sleep well. I believe the majority
of people think that the rich have it made, but that is not the case. Contentment is what is important, more
important than being rich. Paul writes
to the Philippians “10 ¶ But I rejoiced
in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me;
indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have
learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means,
and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have
learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance
and suffering need. 13 I can do all
things through Him who strengthens me (Phil. 4:10-13).”
Dr. Wiersbe shares the story of John D. Rockefeller, “At
the age of fifty-three, Rockefeller was the world’s only billionaire, earning
about a million dollars a week. But he
was a sick man who lived on crackers and milk and could not sleep because of
worry. When he started giving his money
away, his health changed radically and he lived to celebrate his ninety-eighth
birthday!”
Wealth Provides Security (vv. 13-17): “13 There is a grievous evil which I have
seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. 14 When
those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then
there was nothing to support him. 15 As he had come naked from his mother’s
womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his
labor that he can carry in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil-exactly as
a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for
the wind? 17 Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation,
sickness and anger.”
In this section Solomon is speaking about two different
people, one who is a miser, who hoards all of his money afraid he will lose it,
and another man who has made a very bad investment and has nothing left to
leave to his children. Both of these men
are unhappy as the later one lives in darkness with great vexation as he
becomes sick over what has happened to him, while the first one is miserable
because he is afraid to spend any of the money he is hoarding. In the end both die with the same thing that
they had when they were born: nothing! Job
1:21 states “He said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I
shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the
name of the LORD.’” Psalm 49:17 states “For
when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him.” I Timothy 6:7 states “For we have brought
nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” There is another portion of Scripture in the
book of Luke 12:13-21 in which our Lord gives a parable about a rich man who is
worried about having enough room to store all of his goods and so he decides to
build bigger barns and then he will eat drink and be happy for the rest of his
life, but the problem is that that very night he died and left it all, which is
what all of us will do when we die, leave it all.
Solomon is not advocating either riches or poverty and that
is because both of them have their own problems. In the closing verses (18-20) Solomon is affirming
again that a person must accept the station in life that he is in and enjoy the
blessings that God has given to him: “18
¶ Here is what I have seen to be good
and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he
toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him;
for this is his reward. 19 Furthermore,
as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered
him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this
is the gift of God. 20 For he will not
often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the
gladness of his heart.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “There are three ways to get
wealth: we can work for it, we can steal
it, or we can receive it as a gift (see Eph. 4:28). Solomon saw the blessings of life as God’s
gift to those who work and who accept that work as the favor of God. ‘To enjoy your work and to accept your lit in
life—that is indeed a gift from God’ (vs. 19 TLB).
Solomon added another important thought: the ability to enjoy life’s blessings is also
a gift from God. Solomon will expand on
this thought in the next chapter and point out the unhappiness of people who
possess wealth but are not able to enjoy it.
We thank God for food, but we should also thank Him for healthy taste
buds and a digestive system that functions correctly. A wealthy friend, now in heaven, often took
me and my wife to expensive restaurants, but he was unable to enjoy the food
because he couldn’t taste it. All of his
wealth could not purchase healing for his taste buds.”
Let us look at verse twenty in the TLB “The person who
does that will not need to look back with sorrow on his past, for God give him
joy.” This verse may mean that the
person who rejoices in God’s daily blessings will never have regrets. We should begin today to start storing up
happy memories: “So teach us to number
our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” is what Psalm 90:12 says.
I like what Solomon is stating about accepting the
station in life that God has given to us and to thank the Lord daily for His
many blessings that He has given to us.
We must remember that God is in control of our days as David writes
about in Psalm 139 and so we must begin to enjoy life, thank god for His
blessings and not worry about how many days we have left on this earth.
In the next chapter, chapter six Solomon will conclude
his discussion on the futility of wealth, but before we go on to that chapter
we will look at the third chapter of Daniel as that is the chapter for May we
will look at. After that then if the
Lord’s wills it we will come back to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I think that one
of the biggest reasons for studying the Word of God is to gain wisdom from it
on how to live my life here on planet earth.
Sometimes it is painful to read the Word of God for it “steps on my toes”
as it makes me uncomfortable in the things that I learn from it. This was the case today as I need to begin
afresh in thanking God for the many blessings that He has given to me, and to
trust Him to live in the station of life he has placed me in.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Contentment is something I have not mentioned
for a while in this section, but I still desire to learn contentment, and this
section has help me learn more about it.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Cor. 5: 17-18
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Jerusalem” (1 Kings 5:14)
Today’s Bible Question: “How old were Abraham and Sarah when Isaac
was born?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
5/5/2013 9:30 AM
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