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?
Go to VIDEO
[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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