More or Less - Day 261 Month 9-17 Week 36-2
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Kings 17, Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, Daniel 2:36-49, Ephesians 5:1-21
More or Less
“I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself. And behold, it too was futility”” (Ecclesiastes 2:1)
He explored alcohol, built houses, planted vineyards, made gardens and parks, ponds of water, possessed slaves, possessed large herds of livestock, collected silver and gold, had musicians to listen to, had many mistresses and became greater than all before him. Anything he wanted he received. Yet “all was vanity.”
I don’t know about you but I suspect you, the reader, are like me in some ways. We have a nice property on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. I would love to get the additional property on one side of us. I would like to get a larger truck because then I can tow anything I want. I have a tractor but really what will work best for me is a skid steer. I have a shop but that shop is a little small for all the things I want to do in it. Our home is a nice 2 bedroom home but it sure would be nice if it were a 3 bedroom. Then it would be easier to accommodate guests. Maybe, if we put a bunkie on the other side of the ridge with a nice deck, we can relax there and really enjoy living on the shore.
None of those items I suggested are bad but what it is revealing is exactly what Solomon was pointing out. The more we get, the more we want. Once we have everything we want we find it is “vanity and striving after the wind.” It changes nothing. We simply have more.
Paul in Ephesians 5 calls us to be “imitators of God.” To “walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). He tells us to avoid immorality, impurity, greed, filthiness and silly talk and coarse jesting.
Then Paul tells us to be the Light in the Lord and to walk as children of light. From Ephesians 5:9, “the fruit of Light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.”
“Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, … And do not get drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit … always giving thanks … and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (Ephesians 5:15-21).
The directions are clear. Pleasure simply brings pleasure. God brings fulfillment and we are to “walk in love.”
Love seems to be the common theme as we read the Bible this year. It seems to me that the more I read, the more it comes through. Maybe Solomon was discovering what happens when we pursue everything except God, while Paul reminds us what happens when we walk in love. Simply walk in love.
Have a great day!
Steve
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