Well it’s Wednesday & I promised you I would tell you when the first road trip was recorded. It was taken by Horacio Nelson Jackson in 1903. Later a movie was made about it in 2003.
Our meditation comes from Prov. 21:17 “Those who love pleasure become poor; those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.”
This warning by Solomon to his sons, was talking about living for pleasure, not about once in a while doing something fun.
This warning was easily understood because Solomon’s sons were surrounded by luxury. David his father had lived a life of struggle, hard work, warfare against wicked kings. Who were thinking that to be kind & respectful meant they were soft.
So David worked hard to make Israel one united nation, with walls for protection, wells, crops, herds, all in order to bring great influence to the nation & the world. And to bring honor to His God who he loved & honored.
Once your family has worked hard and prospered it is easy for the children to live for ease. Then fall into living for that very ease & fail to contribute to others.
Becky & I went to Rhode Island and toured the mansions of past wealthy people who made these mansions their summer homes on the ocean beaches. (2 months a year).
The thing I noticed, was that those children who lived in luxury & pleasure and were not required to work in the family business, became useless, taken over by alcohol, fine dining, pleasures of all sorts.
While those children who took on responsibilities were productive and useful for themselves & their family. Even up to today those very children who worked, their children to continue to remain productive & content.
Many of these successful families produced iron works, shipping fleets, banking firms, railroad lines, etc. for the strengthening of our nation. However, those who failed this test, they declined into self destructive ways and no longer even exist.
That was the reason for this warning, given to all of us through Solomon.
So Go With God for His ways always bring blessing and benefit to all those who follow in these ways. He knows we need to be productive, for if we live for pleasure & luxury we will fall into
destructive patterns.