Ecclesiastes 12

That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. – Ecclesiastes 12:13‭-‬14 NLT

We started with a pretty morbid teacher. Life is meaningless, and nothing is new. He’s given us the rundown of life’s meaninglessness.

He’s told us all about himself. He’s had wealth, he’s worked to find purpose, and he’s had servants. He’s had wives and concubines. He’s partied hard and played hard and worked hard. He has lived.

In the end, what does all the material gain show for his life? Nothing. Everything rooted in material gain and searching for purpose and fulfillment was like chasing the wind. When more is your goal, more is never satisfied.

So the teacher concludes that God will judge all we do. Live life, but don’t find purpose in living life for your gain, but in living life for God’s glory. Fear God and obey His commands. There is no greater life purpose than that. Anything outside of that is chasing the wind.

Perfect Conditions

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.
Ecclesiastes 11:4‭, ‬6 NLT

In essence, get to work! If farmers only wait for perfect conditions to plant crops, will they ever plant? Conditions will never be perfect, but they can be good enough. It’s the same for us.

It may never be the perfect conditions to start the business or write the book, but it can be the best conditions for you to get started and to take the leap. So just start and see what happens.

Start and then continue in what you know. Plant your seed in the morning and work on other things that are productive for you in the meantime. Make the most of what you’ve got.

The crop may grow. The business may flourish. And it also may not. So start, but continue to work while you wait. In the end, one of the two will yield fruit, and maybe both of them will. But you won’t know without 1) starting and 2) continuing the work you already have.

Why Wisdom?

How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness. – Ecclesiastes 8:1 NLT

There’s no worthy price to pay for growing in wisdom. There’s no tradeoff that can compare with growing in wisdom and living life wisely. The Bible reiterates over and over and over how important wisdom is. Wisdom is important for success, relationships, finances, etc.

After God, we should have a really strong desire for wisdom. Of course, relationships are important, and serving is as well, but wisdom helps you understand how to manage those things.

Would I rather have a million dollars or wisdom? Well, both, but if I have to pick, I’m going to go with wisdom. Why? Without wisdom, I can’t make a good decision with my money. Without wisdom, I don’t understand how to have healthy relationships. Without wisdom, I’m not a good steward over any resource that’s available.

How do I know that? Because I’ve made some foolish decisions in the past. Looking back on all my bad decisions, there’s a key component missing every time I made the wrong choice–wisdom! So take it from a former fool, without wisdom, the downward spiral is inevitable.

Ecclesiastes 7

Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life. – Ecclesiastes 7:12 NLT

I love this verse because of Solomon. Of course it’s true, but what really stands out to me is the fact that Solomon is saying it. This is Solomon! He’s been born into royalty and wealth. He’s also maintained that wealth too. He’s saying money can get you almost anything because he’s been rich all of his life. He knows this to be a fact. Yet, what he knows to be the most true is that only wisdom can actually save your life.

It would be different if he had been poor and was simply speaking from a humbled perspective about wealth, which isn’t to say that Solomon wasn’t possibly humble. I’d say that it’s likely that poverty might make people more humble, though maybe by force more than by choice. So, had he been speaking as someone who was forced to understand that money doesn’t save you, it would be different.

He is considered one of the wisest men to ever live, if not the wisest. However, he didn’t always act out of wisdom. So again, this is first-hand knowledge. He’s been wealthy all his life, and he’s been considered wise. As someone who made unwise choices, he can look back on his life and say, “Oh yeah, wisdom is the only thing that can really save a person,” because he’s personally experienced it.

The fact is, Solomon has had both wealth and wisdom. And he is wise enough to know that only wisdom can truly save one’s life.

Ecclesiastes 6 – Chasing Dreams

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind. – Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT

I know you’re thinking, Solomon, what can we do? Now, you’re telling us we can’t even dream anymore? Well, yes and no.

In this verse, the reference is about thinking you’ll find meaning and purpose in the things you don’t have. We’ve all done it. If I had more money, a nicer car, or a bigger house, then I’d be able to help or host more. It’s the idea that more will make us better, happier people.

He’s saying, “Just enjoy what you have.” Find contentment in your current situation instead of believing you need something else to have a purpose or to enjoy your life. This verse isn’t against dreaming or obtaining more. It’s against the lie that dreaming or obtaining more will somehow make life more meaningful.

For me, the whole point of Ecclesiastes has been tearing down the myths we believe in present-day society. The lie that more is more and necessary for happiness. The untruth that having more means you have purpose. The myth that more leads to purpose and fulfillment. Believe it or not, more tends to lead to more problems. It leads to more responsibilities that sometimes we simply aren’t ready for.

The real truth is, if you can’t find purpose in life with less, more is only going to complicate your search. If you won’t give or serve with a little less, will you really give with more? Contrary to popular belief, maybe Solomon is simply saying that less is more because life is less complicated when you have little. Let’s face it, anything that could cloud the truth in finding purpose and meaning in God alone is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5 – Wealth

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! – Ecclesiastes 5:10‭-‬11 NLT

What is being materially wealthy? Is it really worth it? I’m not talking about being a good steward that has managed money well. I’m talking about being someone who is rich with the goal of only becoming richer. Is there really any point in such a life?

There will never be “enough” for that person. As the adage goes, how much more do you need? Just a little bit more.

Solomon knew this life of wealth very well. He is considered one of the richest and wisest kings ever. Yet, here he is saying how meaningless it is to think wealth will bring true happiness. He’s saying the wealthier you become, the more people you have in your life who are eager to spend your wealth. In fact, wealth is only good for watching it slip away. That’s coming from the wisest man to live outside of Jesus.

The thing about this observation is that it wasn’t like Solomon went bankrupt. He’s not speaking as someone who was wealthy and is now in poverty. He was speaking from a wealthy perspective and still had that to say.

In the end, when you die, you leave this world as empty as you came into it (v. 15). Wealth has its purposes, but it shouldn’t be our life purpose. He wasn’t saying wealth was meaningless. He was saying chasing wealth as a means for your life purpose and happiness is, however, meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 2 – Futility of Work

I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. – Ecclesiastes 2:18‭-‬20 NLT

The Teacher has sought solace in work. Now, let’s be clear about this, work is a good thing. Work is a holy thing because God did it. This book is not telling you that work is bad because it’s not. What is bad is finding your life’s purpose only in work.

The Teacher has worked hard. He’s trying to create meaning and purpose in life from work alone, and now that he’s had his work accomplishments, he’s reflecting on how meaningless they are. After all his hard work, one day, he will die. After he’s dead, someone else will take over what he’s left behind. And the same is true for us.

One day, we will die. Perhaps we’ll leave a company or organization behind. Maybe, like me, you’ll leave a classroom behind. And we don’t know if our successors will be wise enough to manage the work or foolish enough to banish working and responsibility. When work is your only purpose, that is a scary thought. When you work out of your purpose, that is a freeing thought.

If your only purpose is to work, then there is nothing to leave behind and certainly nothing you can take with you. But if you find purpose in your work, you can begin to leave a legacy behind.

Why was work meaningless? Because work by itself can’t give you God’s eternal purpose for you.

Ecclesiastes 2

Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
Ecclesiastes 2:10‭-‬11 NLT

Solomon is essentially saying that he enjoyed life. He had everything the world says we should want. He had servants, gardens, food, wine, resources, concubines, and wives. He denied himself no thing that we would deem pleasurable.

He even found pleasure in work, maybe even purpose in it (we’ll talk about work later). In other words, whatever he wanted, he had. Whatever he thought would make him happy, he had. No thing was off limits. Yet, in the end, he still had the same conclusion that he began with. It was all like chasing the wind.

It all brought momentary pleasure but no eternal value. It still left him wanting. So if pleasure didn’t bring a life purpose, he thought work might. Might it?

Lovestruck- Podcast Book Review

We’re hitting the books with Lovestruck by Sharon Jaynes. I must say, this in-depth description of the Song of Songs gave me a clearer understanding of this biblical book.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1806754/

Proverbs 8

For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
Proverbs 8:11 NLT

At least eight times in Proverbs 8 it references the importance of wisdom over treasures. Eight times it either says wisdom and understanding are better than silver and gold or something along the lines of it being more valuable than precious rubies. It actually says if you love wisdom you will inherit wealth and fill your treasuries.

So I must say, I’m totally confused when people flaunt their wealth. I have never and will never be moved by how much money a person has. It’s about how much wisdom and discretion we obtain and use in life. Solomon possibly wrote this Proverb and he was one of, if not the richest and wisest to ever live.

There is nothing wrong with being wealthy. There is something wrong with: finding identity in wealth, obtaining wealth by any means necessary, being wealthy and not using it for God’s glory.

In the end, our prayer shouldn’t just be for more wealth. It should be for more wisdom. It seems to me that the Bible is saying that if you’re wise enough, you’ll be wealthy enough. There’s a reason wisdom is more valuable than wealth. You won’t lose out on wealth by chasing wisdom, but you can miss out on wisdom by chasing wealth.