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Empty and Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 7-10

I keep thinking of Job as I read Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes.  With all that happened to Job you can kind of understand his being down and even fatalistic at times.  Job’s children were destroyed, his house was destroyed, and all that he had was taken from him.  Solomon, however, had everything a man could want; I mean everything.  He was the wealthiest man in the world.  He was the most famous man in the world.  He had a harem of women to meet every sexual desire.  He was king of a nation favored by God.  His every wish was the command of all the people.  The best wine and food the land had to offer was set on his table.  With all of this you would think Solomon would be the happiest man on earth.

Now we all know that money can’t buy happiness but I don’t think we live as if we believe it.  That would be another case of having knowledge but not wisdom.  Solomon, the man who had everything, wrote a fatalistic book.  As I’ve already said, the lesson here is not what Solomon says, which is often wrong, but the fact that life is empty and meaningless without right relationship with God.  I’m sorry to keep harping on that but when are we going to get that through our self-centered brains?

Once again let me share with you the words of J. Vernon McGee:

McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Solomon…

“has made experiments in everything under the sun to see if any of it would bring satisfaction and enjoyment to him. He tried science, the study of the natural laws of the universe, which made some contribution but did not satisfy him. Then he went into the study of philosophy and psychology. They didn’t satisfy. He went the limit on pleasure and materialism. He tried fatalism, which is such a popular philosophy of life today. He tried egoism, living for self. Then he tried religion—no religion can satisfy, because only Christ can satisfy the heart. Wealth was another thing which Solomon tried. He was the wealthiest man in the world, but he found that wealth did not bring satisfaction in and of itself.

Now we will see him try the last experiment: morality. Today we would call him a “do-gooder.” I would say that this is the place to which the majority of the people in America are moving. (I think the majority would still be classified as do-gooders.) They are going down the middle of the road on the freeway of life. This group can be described as the Babbitts, doing business in the Big City, under a neon sign, living out in suburbia, in a sedate, secluded, exclusive neighborhood, and taking it easy. Their children go to the best schools. They move with the best crowds. They go to the best church, the richest church in the neighborhood, the one with the tallest steeple, the loudest chimes, and the most educated preacher, who knows everything that man can possibly know, except the Bible (of course, if he did know and preach the Bible, he would lose his job). This is the kind of do-good society Solomon now tries.

… My friend, seeking satisfaction in life by just trying to be a do-gooder is living like a vegetable, not a man! Yet this is the lifestyle of the majority in modern America. They will go to the burlesque show on Saturday night and to church on Sunday morning! What hypocrisy! We have seen our youth rebelling against this type of living. There are two thousand of them over on the island of Hawaii. I had the privilege of ministering to some of them, and quite a few turned to Christ. They have tried everything else. But why didn’t they find Christ in their homes in which their parents were church members? They saw that there was something radically missing in their homes and in their churches. They have seen the hypocrisy, the emptiness of the life of the moralist, the do-gooder.

I believe it is easier to reach a godless atheist than a hypocritical churchgoer. The godless atheist may respond when he hears the gospel for the first time, but the hypocritical churchgoer has heard the gospel again and again and has become hardened to it. That is the real tragedy.”

Brothers, do we live as we believe or do we live like the world, like Solomon, pursuing elusive joy in empty and meaningless worldly pleasures?  Let’s get our priorities right.  Let’s focus first on our relationship with Christ, the joy will follow!

Have a purposeful day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

The Secret Of A Joyful Life

Ecclesiastes 3-6

I don’t know about you, but as I read Solomon’s words I envision an extremely depressed man.  He is spouting a morose, fatalistic view point.  I want to give a warning here that you need to be careful in what you take away from what he says.  Solomon has wandered away from God.  He has married foreign women and they have pulled him away from right relationship with God with their foreign gods.  In the mean time, he has been hailed across the known world for his wisdom in ruling his people.  He has wealth beyond belief.  He has a palace full of wives and concubines.  He has wealth, power, and fame; everything the secular world has to offer and you can hear in his words the emptiness of his life.  Considering all with which God has blessed him, why is he so down?

He is down because life has no meaning without a right relationship with God.  Notice that Solomon acknowledges God’s existence, sovereignty, and even the need to show Him proper respect but none of this means that he is in right relationship with God.  In one of my posts on Proverbs I wrote about the difference between knowledge and wisdom.  Knowledge is the possession of information.  Wisdom is the right use of that information.  For example, if I know that to be healthy I need to exercise and eat right then I have knowledge.  If I actually exercise and eat right I have wisdom.  In what “Solomon the Wise” writes in Ecclesiastes we discover that he is lacking in both knowledge and wisdom.

I found the following set of verses particularly instructive.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.  For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”

In verse 20 Solomon says “…because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart”.  Now I have had joy in my heart and I have got to tell you that there is no joy like that which comes from being in right relationship with God.  It is an incredible thing!  Joy just radiates from you.  Everything just seems to be coming up roses and others notice the joy in you; they are drawn to it.  This joy is indeed a gift from God as is everything you are, have, and see.  Solomon is correct that God can fill your heart with this kind of joy but he is incorrect to suggest that it comes from taking pleasure in worldly things.

Appropriate pleasure in worldly things only comes when one is in right relationship with God.  The over arching message Solomon communicates in Ecclesiastes is that the best the world has to offer is emptiness and yet he says you should take pleasure in that emptiness.  How can you take pleasure in something you know does not bring pleasure?  You can’t.  The pleasure in life comes from God. It is in right relationship with God that one can truly enjoy His creation and all that He has provided.

Solomon is experiencing the same disease that permeates our world today.  People have no sense of purpose.  Their existence seems empty and meaningless.  They try to fill the hole in their lives with eating, drinking, the pursuit of wealth and sex, and any number of meaningless pursuits.  You cannot fill a God sized hole with meaningless stuff.  Enjoying your life, having a sense of contentment and purpose, are a by-product of right relationship with God.  The problem is the world tries to get the by-product rather than the “main-product”.  Solomon’s solution to the emptiness of life is no solution at all.

You want to be happy?  Praise God, trust and obey Him, read your Bible every day, pray every day, make the focus of your life right relationship with Him and as Christ told us, “all these things will be added to you”.

Matthew 6:33

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The secret of a joyful life is no secret, it has been known since God first breathed life into Adam.  The secret to a joyful life is a right relationship with God.

Have a joyful day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

A Wise Fool

Proverbs 31 – Ecclesiastes 2

Well, we finished Proverbs today and started Ecclesiastes.  I really enjoyed Proverbs and intend to spend some more time in them on my own.  I think I could take one verse a day and find great profit in pondering the truth there-in.  I think it is fascinating that Proverbs ends with a discussion on the makings of an excellent wife.  I know many of us have an excellent wife while others are still searching.  I also know there are some who read this description and think their wife doesn’t measure up.  If you are thinking along that line I’d like to turn the question around on you.  When your wife reads in the scriptures what makes an excellent husband would she feel you measure up?

Fellas, we can’t control how others act or think or speak; we can only control ourselves.  The problem with griping that our wife doesn’t measure up to the biblical standard is that the same can be said of us.  Instead of focusing on the speck in our wife’s eye maybe we should be looking at the plank in our own.  As the spiritual head of our home it is incumbent on us to live a godly life.  It is by our faithful example that our family will be led.

I remember a story of a brother in Christ who was married to an unbeliever.  I’m not sure if he married her after he was already a believer or not but regardless his wife was antagonistic toward his faith.  She ridiculed him, berated him, and put him down.  The demands of his employment and marital situation left him little time to read his Bible.  His response was to make time.  He got up every morning at 3am to read his Bible.  I’m saying every morning!  He was faithful.

His wife noticed.  One morning, while he sat reading his Bible she came down stairs and spoke to him.  She told him that she couldn’t understand how he could be so consistent in his faith in the face of all that she threw at him.  He never rose to the bait she kept throwing out.  He never failed to get up to read his Bible.  His behavior led her to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was something to his faith after all.  She asked him to tell her about it.

Now I know most of us are married to Christian women; what a blessing!  I’m also sure that if we focused on how they are supposed to be we would find fault.  As I’ve said, however, if they look at you they will find fault as well.  You can do nothing directly about their faults but you can do everything about your own.  By doing so you may just provide the leadership they need to address theirs.

Now, about Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote this book along with Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.  As J. Vernon McGee says, Proverbs is the wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiastes is the foolishness of Solomon.  He says that Ecclesiastes is “the dramatic autobiography of his life when he was away from God.”  Remember that Solomon was eventually led away from God by his intermarriage with foreign women and the influence of their foreign gods.

I’m going to provide the outline of this book followed by Dr. McGee’s commentary on the book.  Ecclesiastes is a very different kind of book from the others in the Bible and I think it important for us to understand that before we get too far into it.

McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Outline

I. Problem Stated: “All is Vanity,” Chapter 1:1–3

II.  Experiment Made, Chapters 1:4–12:12
(Seeking Satisfaction in the following:)

A.  Science, Chapter 1:4–11

B.  Wisdom and Philosophy, Chapter 1:12–18

C.  Pleasure, Chapter 2:1–11

D.  Materialism (Living for the “Now”), Chapter \2:12–26

E.   Fatalism, Chapter 3:1–15

F.   Egotism, Chapters 3:16–4:16

G.  Religion, Chapter 5:1–8

H.  Wealth, Chapters 5:9–6:12

I.    Morality, Chapters 7:1–12:12

III.  Result of Experiment, Chapter 12:13–14

“To correctly understand any book of the Bible, it is important to know the purpose for which it was written. We need to back off and get a perspective of the book. We need to put down the telescope on the Word of God before we pick up the microscope. The necessity for this is more evident here than in many of the other books of the Bible.

This is human philosophy apart from God, which must always reach the conclusions that this book reaches. We need to understand this about Ecclesiastes, because there are many statements which contradict certain other statements of Scripture.

Actually, it almost frightens us to know that this book has been the favorite of atheists, and they have quoted from it profusely. Voltaire is an example. Today we find the cynic and the critic are apt to quote from this book. And it is quite interesting to note the number of cults that use passages from this book out of context and give them an entirely wrong meaning.

Man has tried to be happy without God; it is being tried every day by millions of people. This book shows the absurdity of the attempt. Solomon was the wisest of men, and he had a wisdom that was God-given. He tried every field of endeavor and pleasure that was known to man, and his conclusion was that all is vanity. The word vanity means “empty, purposeless.” Satisfaction in life can never be attained in this manner.

God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a sinner in God’s sight. In Ecclesiastes God showed Solomon, the wisest man, that he was a fool in God’s sight. This is a book from which a great many professors, Ph.D.s and Th. D. s, and preachers could learn a great lesson. In spite of all their wisdom, in spite of all attempts at being intellectual, unregenerate men in the sight of God are fools. That, my friend, is something that is hard to swallow for those who put an emphasis upon their I. Q. and the amount of knowledge and information that they have accumulated.

In Ecclesiastes we learn that without Christ we cannot be satisfied—even if we possess the whole world and all the things that men consider necessary to make their hearts content. The world cannot satisfy the heart, because the heart is too large for the object. In the Song of Solomon we will learn that if we turn from the world and set our affections on Christ, we cannot fathom the infinite preciousness of His love; the Object is too large for the heart.

The key word is “vanity,” which occurs thirty-seven times. The key phrase is “under the sun,” which occurs twenty-nine times. Another phrase which recurs is “I said in mine heart.” In other words, this book contains the cogitations of man’s heart. These are conclusions which men have reached through their own intelligence, their own experiments. Although Solomon’s conclusions are not inspired, the Scripture that tells us about them is inspired. This is the reason for the explanatory: “I said in mine heart,” “under the sun,” and “vanity.”

…This is not a book without rhyme or reason—not just a bunch of verses stuck together. It begins with the problem stated: All is vanity in this world. Then we will find that experiments are made. Solomon will seek satisfaction through many different avenues, in many different fields. He will try science, the laws of nature, wisdom and philosophy, pleasure and materialism, as well as living for the “now.” He will explore fatalism, egotism, religion, wealth, and morality. Then in the final verses of the book he will give us the result of his experiments.

Keep in mind that the conclusions in each experiment are human, not God’s truth. This is man under the sun.

Do not misunderstand what is meant by “inspiration” when we say that the Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration guarantees the accuracy of the words of Scripture, not always the thought that is expressed. The context should be considered, and attention paid to the person who made the statement and under what circumstances the statement was made. For example, in the betrayal of Christ by Judas, the record of the event is inspired, but the act of Judas was not God-inspired; it was satanic. Also the statements that Solomon makes, while he is searching for satisfaction apart from God, are not always in accord with God’s thoughts. Inspiration guarantees that what Solomon said has been accurately recorded in Scripture.”

Let us not be fools my friends.  Let us learn wisdom from Solomon’s foolishness!

Have a faithful day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Doing Right

Proverbs 28-30

Boy, there are so many proverbs I’d like to comment on today!  It doesn’t look like I’m going to stay on just one but let’s see how it goes.  I was reminded of the world of politics today as I read the following proverb.

Proverbs 28:5

“Evil men do not understand justice,
but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.”

We hear so much out of Washington about “justice”; that this, that, or the other is unfair and must be redressed by legislation that punishes one group to the benefit of another.  Now I don’t wish to paint with too wide a brush here but I worry that we don’t have enough people “who see the Lord” in elected office.  I am sure there are some but it’s getting pretty hard to identify them.  All we see any more are backroom deals for special interests that feed the personal interests of our elected officials.  They tell us they are going to “take care of us”, “make things fair”, “solve our problems”, all the while they are doing anything but and lining their pockets along the way.

I have got to tell you that the last thing I want is a bunch of lying, self-seeking, good for nothing politicians and bureaucratic nincompoops taking care of me or solving my problems.  They know nothing about me and I believe I am far more capable of taking care of me than they are.  More importantly, these folks don’t “understand justice”.  Man is unjust because he seeks after himself.  To be just one must seek after God and we have far too little of that in our society today.  Those who seek God understand justice completely which is why there is no justice coming out of Washington.

Proverbs 28:9

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination.”

Have you ever heard the saying “There are no atheists in fox holes”?  I know a man who claims that there is no such thing as God.  I also know that he has confessed that in his darkest hour he has been known to pray to God for help.  The Bible in general, and Proverbs specifically, tell us that one who rejects God’s Word is a fool.  Can you really reject God’s Word and then expect Him to hear your prayers in a favorable light?  After 9/11 there were people rushing into church and praying.  People that hadn’t been to church in years, who only prayed when they wanted something, suddenly started calling on the Lord.

Such momentary outbreaks of piety show that they have turned their ear from hearing the law.  They do not understand the context in which God answers prayer.  To them, God is simply the Great Blessing Bestower in the sky just waiting to serve up whatever you request the moment you are ready to put Him to work.  My friends, if that is your approach to prayer understand that your prayers are an abomination.  They aren’t simply ignored, they are an abomination.  Do you know the definition of that word?  An abomination is a “cause of abhorrence and disgust”.  I had to look up “abhorrence” as well which means “a feeling of repugnance or loathing”.  Whoa!  God views the prayers of those who turn their ear away from His law with repugnance, loathing, and disgust!  Praying from such a place is not just a waste time it evokes a pretty strong negative reaction from God!  It is heartbreaking to see the futile flailing of the lost.  They have no hope unless they reject themselves and accept Christ.

Proverbs 28:13

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

This stood out to me because we so often forget that there is more to accepting Christ than simply accepting His sacrifice.  We must not only confess our sins but “forsake” our sins to obtain mercy.  Just so we are clear, forsake means to “give up, renounce, leave all together, abandon”.  We must do all of that with our sin to gain mercy, forgiveness, eternal life.  How many have walked the aisle, prayed for forgiveness, been baptized and yet have not abandoned their sin?  As Christ said there will be those in the last days who call on the name of the Lord to whom He will say “I do not know you.”

Luke 13:24-28

“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’  Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’  But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’”

Proverbs 28:26

“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”

Just yesterday I was trying to explain to my daughter the difference between knowledge and wisdom.  We covered this very topic a few days ago in this blog.  One can have all the knowledge in the world and be a fool.  Knowledge is simply information; it is not of value in and of itself.  I’m reminded of Dave Ramsey saying that money is no different from a brick; it can be used for good or bad, to break a window or build a hospital.  This is true of knowledge.  Wisdom is the rightful use of knowledge.  If I don’t know that I should eat right and exercise, well I don’t have knowledge or wisdom.  If I know that I should eat right and exercise but don’t, I simply do not have wisdom.

There are those who know a lot and think they know more than they do.  They can be very intelligent people but intelligence and knowledge are not wisdom.  The Bible is clear, if you have all the knowledge and intelligence in the world but do not walk in the way of the Lord you have not wisdom; you are not wise.  If you wish to be delivered be wise and walk in Christ!

Proverbs 29:1-2

“He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

How do you respond to correction?  Do you shoot the messenger that says you are not doing right?  God will reprove you.  He will send people and circumstances to correct you.  If you willfully oppose His correction you will be broken beyond healing.  Pharaoh comes to mind.

Finally, I look at our nation and I hear the people groan; the wicked rule.  If we want to see a revived and joyful nation then we must start calling each other, as well as the lost, to righteousness.  It is the only way.

Have a righteous day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

A Godly Man

Proverbs 25-27

I wish we had time to look at every proverb in depth; each has so much to teach us.  I’m sure some of you scratch your head at times wondering why I chose a particular verse on which to comment rather than others; particularly when I repeat topics.  I must say that I try to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as I sit down to write each post.  My prayer prior to reading is that the Lord will open my heart to what He would have me learn and what He would have me write in the blog that He might be glorified in me and through me and in this blog and through this blog.  It is my hope that more times than not He finds me faithful in writing what He would have me write.  When my posting is poor it is because I have failed in my attempt to follow His leading.

That said, there are three different proverbs that seemed to stand out from the rest today, though all of them were of great profit.  The first that really grabbed me was this.

Proverbs 25:14

“Like clouds and wind without rain
is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.”

Humility is a trait of a Christian.  Boasting is a symptom of self-centeredness.  Though a boasting Christian is of concern in that they are lacking in spiritual maturity, I am more concerned about the Christian who actually has a gift which he keeps to himself.  Whether you boast about a gift you have or not, the possession of a gift from God requires the possessor to use it to the purpose for which it was given.  If God has given you a gift, and the scriptures tell us that all who accept Christ are given gifts, then He intends you to use if in kingdom building.  What good are clouds and wind if they bring not rain?  What good are you if God has given you a gift you do not use to His purpose?

Similarly we can have a problem in that we want to choose which gifts we have.  Often we will ignore that which God has given us because we prefer something else.  Some will claim a gift they do not have.  This results in a number of problems.  To arbitrarily claim a gift from God is to set ourselves above God; doing so places us in the driver’s seat, not God.  There is an element of boasting here in that claiming something that is not ours is a self-centered, self-aggrandizing act.  There is no humility in such an act.  We are attempting to elevate ourselves in the eyes of others and ourselves.  Our hearts are certainly not in the right place.

Another problem here is that we are not accepting our appointed place in the work of building God’s kingdom.  God’s will is going to get done, but I can’t help but wonder what is missed by abdicating our responsibilities.  More often than not I believe the person who neglected their gift is the one who lost the most.  Do you know how God has gifted you?  If not you should make an effort to find out.  There a number of resources you can find at your local Christian book store.  Go ask someone at one of these stores where these resources are located and get to work.

One of the gifts that God gives to all Christians is self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Now look at this proverb:

Proverbs 25:28

“A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.”

This proverb stood out because I think we men have a challenge with self-control.  Some of us might have a challenge in controlling what we eat or drink.  Others may have a challenge in what they view.  I suspect a large number of us have challenges in controlling our anger.  I’ve heard Pastor Jim say on a number of occasions that the one emotion men are comfortable in expressing is anger.  Our society has brought us up to believe that the “lesser” emotions are unmanly, and yet God gave us those emotions.  What are we to do with them?  Since anger is somehow viewed as manly all emotions are funneled to this outlet.

Frustration, disappointment, fear, hurt, and the like all come out as anger.  Such a redirection of emotion is unhealthy.  The problem with this is that we are not taking control of our emotions.  We are allowing some societal programming to dictate our emotional responses.  We also are letting anger run amok in our lives trampling down the ones closes to us.  Do you see how a lack of control leaves a man as a broken city?  An inability to control our anger, or our other impulses, makes us vulnerable to attack.  As Peter said:

1 Peter 5:8

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Take control of your emotions and your impulses.  The devil does indeed prowl around looking for someone to devour.  If you lack self-control you lack the walls necessary to defend yourself.

Finally, we’ve all heard this one:

Proverbs 26:17

“Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.”

Iron sharpens iron.  We know that one don’t we?  This is a call to fellowship; a call to accountability.  Do we hearken to that call?  Remember that knowledge is not wisdom.  We can know something and still not act upon that knowledge.  Wisdom is acting on knowledge rightly.  We know that we are to fellowship.  We know as men that we are to hold each other accountable; but do we?  Do you have an accountability partner?  Do you have men that sharpen you?  To me this proverb ties in with Proverbs 25:28.  We are in a battle.  We do need our walls up, but we also need sharp swords.  We must be prepared and that preparation includes holding each other accountable.  Brother, if you don’t already have one, get yourself an accountability partner.  You need to be proactive in this process.  Simply showing up at church on Sunday is not enough.  You need to start talking with Godly men specifically for the purpose of holding yourself accountable.  That doesn’t happen by accident.

Being a godly man isn’t for cowards and weaklings.  It’s a lot of hard work.  Every day we are to be more like Christ.  Let us continue to work toward that goal.  Make the effort.  Be the man God created you to be!

Have a godly man kind of day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

What Is Wealth?

Proverbs 22-24

I am constantly reminded that God’s sense of wealth is different from man’s sense of wealth.  I was again reminded of this in the first few verses of today’s reading.

Proverbs 22:1-4

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the maker of them all.
The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life.”

So obviously we have the fact that from God’s perspective a good name is greater than great riches and favor better than silver or gold.  This concept is not a winner from man’s perspective is it?  Much of the political turmoil over the past couple hundred years, if not all of human history, has actually been over riches; material stuff.  The principles of “Capitalism” have been around since the first caveman traded a rabbit for a stick of fire.  As an economic theory it was individuals like Adam Smith and John Locke that wrote of capitalism as a preferable mode of economic life for nations.  At about the same time, it was individuals such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire who wrote of “social justice”; the economic theory that planted the seeds of socialism, communism, and progressivism.

These are very different views of wealth.  Those that worship at the shrine of “capitalism” believe private property is good if all are afforded equal opportunity to obtain it by their own efforts.  Those that worship at the altar of “social justice” believe that private property is bad and that no one should have more stuff than anyone else.  This is their view of justice.  Both are extremely materialistic philosophies.  I have heard it said that religion is the cause of most wars.  This is absurd on its face, of course.  It doesn’t take a history major to know that most wars were started for economic reasons.  Far more people have died under the Socialist/Communist banner than have ever died under a Christian banner.

Regardless, God tells us that He made both rich and poor.  The question is what does He view as rich and poor?  We keep arguing about stuff.  This guy has less than that guy; it isn’t fair.  Do you really think God cares about how much stuff we have?  No, He does not.  He does, however, care about how we use the stuff He has placed in our care.  You see it all belongs to Him.  You will see throughout the Bible, and certainly in today’s reading, that God expects those whom He has blessed with material wealth to consider the poor.

Do you see what God sees but man seems to miss?  You can’t force people to be good.  You can’t force them to do the right thing.  If stuff were the issue and God wanted us all to have the same stuff He would have ensured that we all have the same stuff.  Stuff is not what it is all about; right relationship with Him is what it is all about.  If you want to see a world with no poor then you better start telling the lost about Jesus.  Passing laws and taking from this guy to give to that guy just isn’t going to get the job done.  There is no social justice without the changed heart that comes with Jesus.  There will always be wars and poor as long as men have self-centered hearts.  Man cannot do the kind of heart transplant required to end self-centeredness; only Christ can do this.

You want to change the world?  Tell the world about Jesus!  You want social justice?  Tell the world about Jesus!  The terms rich and poor are meaningless in man’s terms.  God does expect His stewards to care for the hungry, hurt, and dying.  This includes the meeting of their physical needs, but far more importantly it is about their spiritual needs.  In God’s eyes those without Jesus are destitute.  It is the lost who are truly poor no matter how much money they possess.  When Christ returns the elect will be like Christ.  We will treat each other as God always intended.  We will view wealth with God’s eyes and the filthy pittance we once chased while on the old earth will look as pathetic as it really is.

Brothers, help the truly poor.  Share Jesus with them!

Have a generous day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!