Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 (For the Love of Money, Part 3)

I know a woman who has a lot.  She has a great family, a beautiful home, a luxury car, takes many nice vacations, wears beautiful jewelry, and buys many nice clothes.  Now, if I stopped there, you might have thought something like, "wow, it must be nice to be her."  Because I did, too, for a while.  But the more I was around her, I noticed that she would often bring her possessions up in conversation -- she wanted to make sure everyone knew just how much she had -- and she she would often make sweeping, verbal judgements of other people completely based on their house size and the neighborhood in which they lived.  

At first, I was angry.  I was angry that she was judging people solely based on their house size.  I was angry that she was constantly bragging about what she had, as if she was rubbing it in my face.  I was angry that she had all of this abundance and rarely shared it with anyone, and if she did, she made sure you knew about it.  And then it hit me:

She doesn't know Jesus.

She has all the stuff money can buy, and yet, she is miserable.  She does not exude joy and love and peace.  She oozes anxiety and judgement and comparison.   And this, Solomon tells us, is a tragedy.

For the final segment on money, we see next a man, who I picture to be much like this woman I know: 

I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: ² God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
³ A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵ Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— ⁶ even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

This man is wrapped in blessings (money, possessions, a large family), and yet, he can't enjoy them all because he doesn't know from Whom these gifts have come.

Do you know how hard that is?  Have you ever received something anonymously?  When I was in elementary school, American Girl dolls were just coming out.  I wanted one so badly, but based on their price, I knew I would never receive one...and I had made peace with that, as much as a ten-year-old can.

Until one day, a huge box from the American Girl company arrived.  I was so confused.  Surely they sent this to the wrong person!  But no, inside was a note for me, but the giver had not signed it.  As I picked up the "Molly" doll from the box, I wanted to be able to thank someone for this incredible gift, but I didn't know who to thank.  It bothered me for years, and for a few days I even had trouble enjoying the gift because I was so focused on who to thank. (I still don't know who gave me that doll, so if you want to come forward, I think it's been long enough.)

We really do want to know who to thank, don't we? And so what a blessing it is to know Who is the Giver in our lives, isn't it?  It allows us the ability to enjoy everything we have been given even more, from a tasty glass of lemonade to a big, schmancy house!

I'm praying that this woman in my life will come to know the Lord, the Giver of all good things, soon.

⁷ Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
    yet their appetite is never satisfied.
⁸ What advantage have the wise over fools?
What do the poor gain
    by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
⁹ Better what the eye sees
    than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
    a chasing after the wind.

Our appetites for more are large.  Our eyes roam across the earth looking for more that we want, and we are bombarded by commercials, advertisements, and billboards telling us that we "need" more in order to be happy and healthy.  But that's a lie!  God will give us all we need, and His gifts often don't come in the form of material possessions.   

I have a weakness for all things home.  I am on the mailing list of every major home design store.  As those magazines pile up on my counter, I gaze at the stack as I wait until the weekend when I can sit in the sun room and savor each page, dreaming up ideas of what I might do in my own house.  It's a delight, really!

But occasionally, I have caught myself seeing things that look incredible and thinking of how I "need" them, then I think about all that I don't have in these magazines, and suddenly I am no longer content with what I have.  In fact, sometimes in those moments, I can feel myself stepping further into all things worldy.  I forget for a few minutes that we will NEVER be satisfied by stuff, so I need to constantly make it my goal to be content with what I have.

We must be careful that while we work to feed our earthly appetites, our souls are not going hungry.

It might be time for a magazine fast for me.

¹⁰ Whatever exists has already been named,
    and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
    with someone who is stronger.
¹¹ The more the words,
    the less the meaning,
    and how does that profit anyone?

¹² For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

God will not let us be happy through things.  He has stacked the deck of life and determined that life is to know Him.

He has made all things for our pleasure, but they are not meant to be the constituents of a perfect, little life.  If we think that a "perfect life" is the best thing for us, we are sorely mistaken.  God wants us to be happy, but that's not the only thing He wants for us, because He knows that true happiness comes only through walking with Him by faith no matter what life brings.

He gives, and He takes away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.



Molly Monroe