Monday, August 5, 2019

Chasing the Wind

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.  Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.   It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.  Psalm 127:1-2

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors.  But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.  “Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”  And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”  Ecclesiastes 4:4-6[2]

When I was a child I had no trouble sleeping; my parents rarely had to enforce bedtime curfew.  Somewhere along the way things changed.  These days if I sleep more than 6 hours I get up with aches in places I didn’t even know I had places!  Chalk it up to age, the weight of responsibilities, or just habit…I get up early and try to hit the ground running at what I do. 
With trial and error, you learn some things.  Some of us have enough error to build a library of knowledge.  One such treasure of understanding is the futility I’ve seen in the act of empire-building.  Solomon’s chasing the wind (vanity) is the way he describes the endless merry-go-round of life’s pursuits, with grabbing the brass ring as the prize.  Solomon (the richest man in the world at that time) learned that the brass ring was tarnished and was never that great to begin with.  He figured out that life, your God-given time on this planet, with even, and particularly, the work to which you give your time and energy was to be enjoyed, not a utilitarian quest to build a bigger pile of stuff than the next guy.    
Here’s the way Jesus put it:

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”  Luke 12:15

Much of the world’s problems spring from ignoring this basic life-principle:
·      The dynasty syndrome…grabbing and trying to hold onto power.
·      The record-breaking syndrome…not keeping up with the Jones’ but being the best Jones there ever was.
·      The extending of influence…taking what the Jones family possesses
Solomon eventually recognized that having it all was grasping at the wind.  It meant nothing but heartache, the heavy hand of materialism realized. 
Focus on the Family psychologist, James Dobson tells about when his children were little.  He and his wife purchased a play set of swings and slides for their back yard.  James put the behemoth together, all 735 screws, bolts with nuts, and assorted pieces, part A inserted correctly into part B.  When he was all done he read the final instruction:  for the safety of the children who use this set make sure to check and tighten each, screw, bolt and nut every two weeks.  James discovered the deep pit of hell in trying to own things – you don’t own anything! But that which you think you own…owns your time and peace of mind.  And the more you have, the deeper this pit becomes.
For You Today
If you are not satisfied with one handful of stuff, what makes you think two will be enough?
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©
[2] For another post on this topic see:  Chasing the Wind & Stubbing Toes

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