Pastor's Corner 9/28/23
Good Day, my friend! Trivia time Hey, I was wondering do you know what is the most masculine animal? Yep, you guessed it! It is a man-atee. Challenge Ecclesiastes 5:11 says, "The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth-except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!"
Here Solomon is attempting to warn us to be careful not to make the amassing of wealth into becoming your life goal or purpose. If that becomes your total focus, then it takes many other people surrounding you to protect your many gains, such as bankers, investors, accountants, managers, etc. He is warning us that it is so easy to get caught off balance in the middle of your efforts to gain money and power. The result is that the things that should become our primary concerns lose our attention. In fact, many times our primary influence gets misplaced, if not lost. The more we have, the more we have to worry about, for then it more easily slips out of our control. Solomon is guiding us to focus instead on the things that have eternal consequence. This focus leads to the positive development of our lives by enrichment of our integrity and moral character. I believe Martin L. King came to this very conclusion in his life. His "I have a dream" speech wisely began to take a place of importance in his life, and calling. Of all the speeches he made, this one speech has taken the place of remembrance from his life in history. You can go anywhere and make that beginning statement and even the youth of our day know who said this. Oh, they may not know his name, but they do remember his life cause. More or less, this is encased in Solomon's counsel to us here in this verse. In a nutshell he is saying, "Don't let power, money, houses, or lands take the priority in your life, rather make your relationship with your Father, and the children of your legacy become your focal point of life." This became such a burning passion in his life that he wrote two entire books to point us to this vital truth. Even before this quote was known as a quote, my dad would say it. "Son, make the main thing the main thing of your life." First and foremost, don't lose sight of your walk with God.
One event in my life, pointed this truth out to me. I still remember it today. One morning, my dad's car had a flat tire, so He came into our room to get permission to take my bike to school. I felt so bad that he had to make that long ride, and then work hard all day, and then ride home on the bike. I thereafter began the ritual first thing each morning of walking around our car to make sure all tires were inflated. This practice led me to witnessing Dad pouring over his Bible every morning, then afterward slipping by my chair at the breakfast table. On his way out the door, he would stop and tell me what he had learned from God that day. This routine drew me into my own study of the Bible. His brief recount of his devotion for that day was like a magnet that sucked me into my devotions becoming a daily resting point for my soul. For that gift, I am forever in debt. That practice aided me through many of life's struggles, even today.
So Go With God my dear one, for only He can enrich your inner being. He can give you a purpose beyond anything else. He can bring into your very soul a place of rest and peace. For as the song says, "Only Jesus can satisfy your soul."