Ron Blue tells the story of a wealthy father, who took his son on a trip to the country to show his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah,” said the son.
“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon.
“We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond sight. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have their friends to protect them.”
With this, the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are” (Ron Blue, Faith-based Family Finances, Tyndale, 2008, pp. 29-30; www.PreachingToday.com).
True wealth comes from the right attitude, not the right amount of money you have. So how can you learn enjoy life despite your financial situation? How can you find joy in life despite its hardships? How can you rejoice even in your toilsome labor? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ecclesiastes 5, Ecclesiastes 5, where the Bible answers this question in a way that you might not expect.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words (ESV).
Just as extreme busyness causes people to dream, excessive words turn people into fools. So listen, more than you speak, especially when you go to the place of worship.
Jesus said, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).
You don’t have to say a lot when you talk to God. In fact, the less you say, the better, because a lot of words can get you into trouble. John Bunyan once said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart” (John Bunyan, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com). Empty words like empty promises invite God’s judgment, so be careful what you say to God.
Some people think God will bless them more if they make a lot of promises to Him, but Solomon calls such promises “the sacrifice of fools.” Such people “are doing evil,” Solomon says, because they rarely keep those promises. Shoot! People fail to keep the promises they make to themselves every new year.
Just a few years ago, (November 2018), NPR and The Marist Poll conducted a survey and discovered that half of all American adults make New Year’s resolutions. Mostly, they promise themselves to exercise more, but most of them give up as early as mid-January.
Google trends shows that searches for topics related to exercise and weight loss spike right around January 1 each year. Almost 11% of all gym memberships for the entire year are sold in January—greater than any other month.
Then on the third Thursday of January exercise activities dip below the four-week average. And the first uptick in fast food eating and the first downtick in exercise activity happens in early February, just 40 days into the new year” (James Emery White, “Quitting Day” Crosswalk.Com, 1-31-19; www.PreachingToday.com).
People fail to keep the promises they make even to themselves. That’s why Solomon goes on to say in verse 4…
Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow (ESV).
Keep your promises to God. In fact…
Ecclesiastes 5:5-6 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? (ESV)
The messenger, in this context, is the priest (cf. Malachi 2:7), who has come to collect the pledge. You cannot tell him, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake when I made that vow.” For God will hold you to that vow.
The Law of God says, “If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin” (Deuteronomy 23:21). So refrain from making any vows before God lest you fail to keep them.
Ecclesiastes 5:7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear (ESV).
Dreamers and babblers come and go like the wind. The only imperative is to fear God. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to do anything. Just stand in awe of the God who remains forever.
One commentator put it this way: “The fear of God is expressed by silence rather than by aimless chatter or deluded daydreaming” (Schultz, C., Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, Baker Book House, 1995, Vol. 3, p. 441).
So, if you want to find real joy in life despite its hardships…
LOOK PAST RELIGION.
Refrain from making promises to God, expecting Him to bless you for it. In fact, listen more than you speak in the house of God, because your empty words will leave you empty in the end.
Bill McCartney, founder of Promise Keepers said, “When I took the job as head football coach at the University of Colorado in 1982, I made a solemn promise: I told everybody that with me, God was first, family second, and football third.
“But I didn't keep that promise for long. The thrill and the challenge of resurrecting a football program in disarray simply took too much time and attention. As my teams kept winning year after year, I kept losing focus of my priorities.
“When we won the national championship in 1990, many people said I had reached the pinnacle of my profession. But for me, there was an emptiness about it. I had everything a man could want, and yet something was missing. I was so busy pursuing my career goals that I was missing out on the Spirit-filled life that God wanted me to have.
“All because I had broken my promise to put God first and foremost in my life (Bill McCartney, Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1; www.PreachingToday.com).
Bill McCartney’s dream became as empty as his words. And the same can happen to you. You may mean well when you make all kinds of promises to God, but it is far better to listen to His promises to you.
If you want to find real joy in life despite its hardships, 1st, Look past religion. Then 2nd…
LOOK PAST RULERS.
Look beyond the political leaders of this world. In fact, expect government bureaucrats to oppress and treat you unjustly.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-9 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields (ESV).
The whole political system is corrupt! You think political corruption is a new phenomenon? No! Solomon describes it here 900 years before Christ! There has always been a “deep state” of one sort or another. The “little guy” is squashed by a government bureaucrat, who feels pressure from a higher bureaucrat, who feels squeezed by a bureaucrat yet above him, who is forced by the king, the highest bureaucrat, to exploit the land for as much wealth and power as he can gain.
It’s the sort of thing Samuel warned Israel about when they demanded their first king (1 Samuel 8:10-18). And it’s exactly what happened with King Solomon’s successor. His Son Rehoboam increased taxes on the people, telling them, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:14). Even good governments slip into corruption from the lowest to the highest levels. So don’t expect any satisfaction from government bureaucrats.
In the mid-1800s, working as a sailor in Great Britain was a dangerous job. Shady ship owners tried to maximize profits by overloading their ships. These ships often sank in bad weather, which allowed the ship owners to make an even greater profit on their over-insured ships. Around the coastline of the United Kingdom in 1873 to 1874, 411 ships sank, killing 506 people. Such overloading, along with poor repairs, made some ships so dangerous that people called them “coffin ships.” Sailors refused to board these “coffin ships” and were often imprisoned for desertion. Between 1870 and 1872 alone, 1,628 sailors were incarcerated for this so-called “crime.”
Shortly before this, in 1868, Samuel Plimsoll, a young Christian, British politician, announced that he would “do all in his power to put an end to the unseaworthy ships owned by the greedy and the unscrupulous.” As a member of the House of Commons, he sponsored a law to ban overloaded ships, but ship-owning politicians and their ship-owner cronies rejected the law. Then a massive storm wrecked 23 ships, leaving 70 seaman and six rescuers dead. Onlookers, who were clustered on the pier, despaired as vessel after vessel sunk into the sea.
With public attention now on the injustice of ship overloading, Plimsoll promoted his cause. He displayed sailors' grieving widows in public and distributed 600,000 copies of a book exposing the vile practices of the ship owners.
Finally, under his leadership, Parliament passed the 1875 Merchant Shipping Act which marked the beginning of the end for “coffin ships.” From then on, and to this day, vessels have to display the Plimsoll Mark, a load line, painted clearly on their hulls, showing how deep they could safely sit in the water and prevent overloading. The practice saved the lives of thousands of sailors who were once caught in an unjust situation (Dawn and Derek Hurton, “Samuel Plimsoll MP, the Seaman's Friend, was addicted to philanthropy and invested much of his wealth and health in a campaign against 'coffin ships',” Beneath the Beacon, Summer, 2018; www.PreachingToday.com).
Plimsoll finally got justice for the sailors, but not from government bureaucrats. The pressure came from the people, who threatened to vote the bureaucrats out of office. So, if you’re looking for justice, look past government bureaucrats. If you want to find real joy in life despite its hardships, 1st, look past religion; 2nd, look past rulers; and 3rd…
LOOK PAST RICHES.
Look beyond the wealth of this world. In fact, expect material prosperity to disappoint, damage, and desert you.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep (ESV).
The common laborer sleeps well after a hard day’s work, but the rich man cannot sleep, because his wealth fails to satisfy Him (vs.10). The money he makes disappoints him. So he is always on a quest for more. And the more he makes, the more people take advantage of him (vs.11). The more goods he acquires, the more people consume his bounty. All the rich man can do is watch his money come and go.
Ted Scofield, in the Mockingbird blog, asks the question, “How much would it take for us to have enough money?” Then he says, “Remarkably, studies show that most people, regardless of income, answer the question the same way: We need about 10% more to feel comfortable. Ten percent will make a difference, and whether we earn $30,000 per year or $60,000 or $250,000 or a cool million, just 10% more is what we want.” Then, “when [we] do get that 10%, which typically happens over the course of a few years, [we] want just another 10%, and so on, ad infinitum” (Ted Scofield, "Everybody Else's Biggest Problem, Pt. 5: You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat," Mockingbird blog, 9-8-15; www.Preaching Today.com).
More money fails to bring greater satisfaction in the long run. It may bring fleeting happiness, but never any lasting joy.
Calvin Miller put it this way in his book A Requiem for Love:
A beggar asked a millionaire
“How many more dollars
Would it take to
Make you truly happy?”
The millionaire,
Reaching his gnarled hands
Into the beggar's cup, replied,
“Only one more!” (Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com).
Wealth fails to satisfy, but even worse wealth hurts the wealthy. Money damages those who love it.
Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt… (ESV).
Money makes people miserable and may ruin them morally. The Hebrew word for “hurt” is translated “evil” earlier in this verse and in verse 16. Money can damage you morally if you’re not careful.
The fact is rich people steal more than poor people. The American Journal of Psychiatry states that people with incomes of $70,000 shoplift 30% more than those earning $20,000 a year (www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104590, Rene Chun, “Rich Robbers; Why Do Wealthy People Shoplift?” The Guardian, 11-4-19; www.PreachingToday.com).
Harrun Majeed realized he had lost his credit card when he arrived home after shopping at a grocery store in his Florida neighborhood. A military veteran now earning his college degree, Majeed assumed he had dropped the card after paying for his groceries. He called the company to cancel his account, but they quickly informed him that his card had just been used at a pizzeria in the same shopping center as the grocery store.
Majeed called the police.
When officers arrived at the pizzeria, they found Richard Lewis Ludwig—a 54-year-old dentist from Michigan—waiting for his order of two large pizzas with extra olives. They arrested Ludwig for credit card theft and forgery charges.
The bill for the pizzas was $40.64. When police asked Ludwig if he was having money problems, he claimed his dental practice was worth between 3-4 million dollars. He had $250 cash in his wallet (Brian Hamacher, “Millionaire Dentist Busted in Pizza Fraud,” NBC Miami, 3-8-11; www.PreachingToday.com).
What possess a man with such resources to steal $40.64? Solomon would say his money ruined him morally. So don’t put your hope on riches (1 Timothy 6:17), because wealth fails to satisfy the wealthy; wealth hurts the wealthy.
And wealth leaves the wealthy. Money deserts those who live to acquire it.
Ecclesiastes 5:14 …and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand (ESV).
The rich may lose their money in a bad business venture, but they most certainly lose their money when they die.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-17 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger (ESV).
The only thing a rich man gains is a lifetime of “vexation, sickness, and anger.” Then he dies and leaves all his wealth behind. I like the way Colonel Sanders once put it: “There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery” (Marriage Partnership, Vol. 10, no.1; www.PreachingToday.com).
Art experts estimate that throughout his life, Pablo Picasso produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 sculptures or ceramics. Thanks to casino magnate Steve Wynn, however, one oil painting will enjoy a greater level of infamy than all the rest of Picasso’s works.
The painting is titled The Dream, and Picasso completed it in 1932. In 1997, at an art auction at Christie's in New York City, Steve Wynn purchased the painting for 47 million dollars. His purchase actually turned out to be quite an investment. In less than a decade, Wynn completed a deal to sell the painting for $139 million—tripling its value! This transaction would have set a record for the sale of a piece of art. It would have.
Just after completing the deal, Wynn, who was standing close to the painting, turned and inadvertently clobbered the Picasso with his elbow, placing a six-inch hole in the middle of the masterpiece. While no one is certain what this does to the value of the painting itself, the effect on the sale price was immediate. Even more quickly than it had come, the record-breaking $139 million sale evaporated (“Vegas Tycoon Pokes Hole in a Picasso,” CBSnews.com, 10-18-06; www.PreachingToday.com).
Easy come, easy go! But that’s the nature of wealth. It’s here today and gone tomorrow.
Wealth fails to satisfy the wealthy. It ruins the wealthy, and it leaves the wealthy. So, if you want to find real joy in life despite its hardships, look elsewhere. Look past religion. Look past rulers. Look past riches. Instead…
LOOK TO THE LORD.
Find joy in a relationship with God. Get true satisfaction through knowing the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting [or beautiful] 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 (ESV).
These verses mention God four times. Whereas, from verse 8 to 17, there is no mention of God. You see, when all you have is money, life is miserable. But when you bring God into the picture, it makes all the difference in the world. For God gives real joy with or without wealth.
It’s not that wealth is bad in itself, for God can give people the power to enjoy wealth, but only those who have a relationship with Him, only those who put Him first in their lives.
Several years ago, David Wayne Sharpton, won major prizes in the Georgia lottery not once, not twice, but three times. In 2004 he won $350,000; in 2005 he won $1 million; and in February 2007 he won $2.5 million.
However, Sharpton continued to work at his job as a restaurant-oven repairman, though his accrued winnings would have given him more than enough to retire. That’s because he has a different take on what it means to be wealthy.
“Am I the luckiest man alive?” he asks. “I suppose so. I got [sic] a pretty good circle of friends, a wonderful job, and a beautiful wife” (“It Wasn't All Bad,” The Week, 2-2-07, p. 2; www.PreachingToday.com).
Sharpton discovered that true satisfaction is more about your attitude than the amount of money you have. “This is the gift of God!” Solomon says. So if you want to find real joy in life with or without money, look to Him. Enter into a relationship with God through faith in His Son. Trust Christ with your life, who came to give you abundant life (John 10:10).
Look past religion. Look past rulers. Look past riches. Look to the Lord to find real joy in life despite its hardships.
Several years ago (2009), Pastor Matt Woodley wandered into the wrong hospital room at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. A middle-aged man with only a few teeth and a wide smile told Pastor Matt that he had shattered his foot after falling off a ladder. When Pastor Matt asked him where he lived, the man told the following story:
“I used to live in a tent deep in the woods near Selden. Then some vigilantes came and burnt my little tent to the ground. I used to own a bicycle, until a rich lady in her huge SUV ran into my bike, dragging me and my bike for over a hundred feet. She never apologized or offered to buy a new bike. Actually, while we waited for the police to come, she chatted merrily on her cell phone. I guess I was just a worthless homeless guy in rags. So that's my life so far. I guess after I get out of here, I'll get back to the woods. But, you know, everything will be all right. I have faith in the Lord, buddy.”
As the man told his story without any bitterness or anxiety, Pastor Matt was overwhelmed. He said, “My new friend owns almost nothing, and yet he seems so happy. I'm the guy with the cars and the home and the master's degree, but he has more contentment than I do. Why? I'll have to ponder that question a little more, but maybe he has trust and simplicity of heart, and I don't” (Matt Woodley, The Happy Homeless Man, from his blog With Us, 8-18-09; www.PreachingToday.com).
What about you? Is your trust in the Lord or your possessions? Please, put your trust in the Lord and find true satisfaction.
