The Simple Life
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Tuesday 18th November 1997
The Simple Life
(Ecclesiastes 5:8-12 NIV) If you see the poor oppressed in a
district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such
things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both
are others higher still. {9} The increase from the land is taken by
all; the king himself profits from the fields. {10} Whoever loves
money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied
with his income. This too is meaningless. {11} As goods increase, so
do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them? {12} The sleep of a labourer is
sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.
Solomon is no jaded king who envies the simple life of the peasants
beyond the castle walls. He sees they are oppressed and denied
justice. He is not even surprised by it. Since his forced labour
programs were one of the main causes of injustice these verses seem
highly ironic. Maybe they are meant to be. He says "the increase from
the land is taken by all, the king himself benefits from the
fields.". Edward Gibbon, the eminent historian who wrote "The Decline
and Fall Of The Roman Empire" wrote "All taxes must, at last, fall
upon agriculture.". The peasant pays for the king.
Solomon then makes another penetrating observation about the
accumulation of capital. "(Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV) Whoever loves
money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied
with his income. This too is meaningless." Does any billionaire say
"I have enough"?. The lovers of money are ensnared by it and held in
its thrall. They cannot rest from accumulating it. This has ruined
countless lives. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV) For the love of money is a
root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the
faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
Then comes one of the gems of Ecclesiastes and a phrase that has
stuck with me in the twelve years since I first studied the book.
"(Ecclesiastes 5:11 NIV) As goods increase, so do those who consume
them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his
eyes on them?" How true! There is an exponential relationship between
wealth and the numbers of those who wish to consume it! The more you
have the more the government, the local charities, your family and
friends will want "a slice of the action". The futility of having
things just so you can gloat over them is so comical that it almost
hurts. Things are for using - not for worshipping.
"The sleep of a labourer is sweet.." Solomon contrasts the happy
worker and the anxiety ridden capitalist but it is no caricature,
Solomon means it. If the hints we have are any indication he
finished his years a quite unhappy man. He had everything and found
it meaningless. The labourer is not silly enough to think that his
life consists of his possession - they are far too few. Faith in God
and love of family get the priority."(James 2:5 NIV) Listen, my
dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of
the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised
those who love him?" For the rich possessions are such a plausible
refuge that it is often only very late when they find out that they
ought to have had a soul. There is only one time that Jesus came
close to calling a person a fool and it was of a man who trusted in
wealth....
(Luke 12:16-23 NKJV) Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The
ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. {17} "And he thought
within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to
store my crops?' {18} "So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down
my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my
goods. {19} 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods
laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'
{20} "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be
required of you; then whose will those things be which you have
provided?' {21} "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not
rich toward God." {22} Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say
to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the
body, what you will put on. {23} "Life is more than food, and the body
is more than clothing.....
Prayer:
Lord we who prosper are in danger of being fools. Wake us up to
eternity! Set us straight with You so that we do not give despise
the eternal and value the carnal and temporary. Set us free! Make us
wise unto God. Amen.
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