Saturday, June 10, 2017, 7:49 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting.” Speak,
Lord, your words to my heart. I read Ecclesiastes
6 (ESV).
Wealth and Possessions (vv. 1-6)
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and
it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth,
possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires,
yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.
This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred
children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but
his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has
no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than
he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name
is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it
finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand
years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?
Some people have been blessed
with wealth – either materially and with many possessions, or with knowledge
and understanding, or with natural talent and much giftedness. They may have
been given many aptitudes for many things. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are
blessed with the riches of God’s grace, not only in our salvation from sin, but
with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, and in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding. We have been forgiven our sins, delivered from slavery to sin,
given new lives in Christ Jesus, to be lived to his righteousness, and indwelt
and empowered with the Holy Spirit, and granted eternal life with God (See:
Eph. 1:1-14). God gives good gifts to his children (Matt. 7:11; Jas. 1:17).
But, what matters is not what
we have, but what we do with what we have. Great wealth, talent, and knowledge
means nothing if it is not used for good purposes, or if it is not shared with
those who are in need, or with those who may benefit from it in some way. It
also means nothing if it is amassed for future purposes, but the person dies
before he gets to put it to good use, and especially if he has no heirs, and
strangers then get his wealth. Or, if his country is conquered by a foreign
entity and he loses it all, and the conquerors then take possession of it. He
should have shared it with others while he still had it, for what good is it if
an enemy now takes possession of it?
He may also lose it, too,
because God takes it away, because he didn’t use it for good, to benefit
others, but he squandered his wealth and just used it for his own selfish
purposes. And, this can be true of spiritual blessings and giftedness, too.
Many people have been given the gift of salvation, and, perhaps, initially they
produced fruit in keeping with repentance, or seemed to, but since then they
have gotten caught up in the world of sin, or have become lazy and complacent,
and they are living their lives wholly for their own self-pleasure. Maybe they
initially received the gospel message with joy and with enthusiasm, but as time
went on, they went back to their old ways of living for sin and self, and they
have forgotten that salvation means death to sin and living to righteousness.
They are also ignoring all the warnings in scripture regarding how we will reap
what we sow, and instructions which teach that our spiritual walk, or lack
thereof, determines our eternal destiny.
Never Satisfied
(vv. 7-9)
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite
is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?
And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the
living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the
appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
The things of this world will
never satisfy us. They are like eating a meal. Hours later we need to eat
again. They are also a lot like water that only temporarily satisfies our
thirst, for then we get thirsty again, and then we need more. The treasures of
this life do bring some temporary satisfaction and pleasure (enjoyment), but
they are temporal. They are not lasting. One day they will all perish, too.
But, since they are only temporarily satisfying, it is human nature to keep
wanting more, thinking if we just have this or that, now we will be happy, but
they never truly make us happy. And, some of them come with great debt because
people buy what they can’t afford, and thus they come with a great financial
burden, too. Or else they come with enormous responsibility, and thus they take
a great amount of our time, money and energies just keeping them maintained,
and for what?
When I think of the wandering
of the appetite, it is not just in wanting more possessions, or more food than
what we need to eat (to live), but it is going outside the boundaries of our
covenant relationships with God or with our spouses. It is not being satisfied
with what we have, or with the marriage covenant, or with God alone, and it is going
after “other lovers,” thinking they will satisfy the deep longings of our
souls. Yet, these are all just empty cisterns full of holes.
Regarding marriage, this
adultery can take place via the mind only, lusting after those who are not our
own, but it can also involve viewing pornography, and sexually charged movies,
TV shows, and books or magazines, too. It can, as well, involve extramarital
relationships, that may begin seemingly innocent enough, but which may lead to
romantic and/or sexual relationships. As well, private chats or texts with
people of interest with whom you might have intimate conversations, especially
without the knowledge or approval of your spouses, and behind their backs, is
another form of adultery and a “wandering appetite.”
Sovereignty of God (vv. 10-12)
Whatever has come to be has already been named,
and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one
stronger than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the
advantage to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the
few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For
who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?
God knows the end from the
beginning. He knew before he even created man that he would sin against him. He
knew before we were even formed in the wombs of our mothers who we would
become, what we would do, and whether or not we would believe in him. But, it
is more than just knowing these things in advance. For those of us who know
Jesus, or who will yet believe in him, God chose us to be holy and blameless in
his sight. He chose us even before the creation of the world (Ro. 8:29; 2 Tim.
1:8-9; Eph. 1:3-4). All the days ordained for me were written in God’s book
before one of them came into being (Ps. 139:13-16; cf. Jeremiah 1:4-5). God
placed me in the womb of my mother, so he chose the home I would be raised in,
even knowing the good, bad and the ugly of it all, because he made me who I am
so he could use me in the way he is using me, and all for his glory!
The point here, also, is that
there is no point trying to go our own way, or to resist God, because his word
will stand true, and he will do what he says he will do. What we sow, that will
we also reap. If we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (in lifestyle)
in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we walk according to our sinful flesh, we
will die in our sins, even if we profess to believe in Jesus Christ. But, if by
the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live with
Christ for eternity. If we persist and insist on going our own way, and
continuing in willful and unrepentant sin against God, and we make a practice
of doing what is wicked, we do not have the hope of eternal life with God, but
a fearful expectation of judgment.
One other thing here is that it
says, the more words, the more vanity. This is not saying that we have to be
people of few words, though there is wisdom in that, at times, when we say more
than is necessary, or more than we should. Yet, what this makes me think of is how
words can be cheap if not accompanied by action. If a man or a woman proclaims
to love his or her spouse but he or she cheats on the spouse and then covers it
up with lies, they should not call it love, for it is not love. If we proclaim
to know and to love God, as well, but we cheat on God with “other lovers,” i.e.
with the gods of this world, and we go our own way, and we do what we want, and
we think we are ok if we keep sinning, and we think obedience is not required,
then all is vanity! Because, our expressions of love are vain, because they are
just words.
So, we should not take God
and his grace for granted. We should be satisfied with where he has us, what he
has us doing, and with the blessings he has bestowed upon us, unless he moves
us to something else, according to his plans and purposes for our lives. We
should not wander outside our covenant relationships with God or with spouse,
but we should be faithful in all that we do, think, speak and are (in character).
If God has gifted us and has given us wealth, knowledge, talent, salvation, and
spiritual gifts, we should use them for his glory, and for the benefit of
others, and not hoard them to ourselves, or to use them only for our own
pleasure. But, we should rest in the Lord, believe what he says, do what he shows
us, go wherever he sends us, and use what he gives us – all for his glory!
Jesus, I am Resting, Resting
Jean Sophia Pigott
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.
O, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ‘neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory,
Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace.
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
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