11th January 2024

11th January 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ecclesiastes 2v1-8)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Solomon wondered aloud about the point of everything asking what is achieved by working forty years and then retiring with a clock for the mantle piece? His answer was that everything under the sun was vanity, like trying to catch the wind. Perhaps the pursuit of wisdom could bring answers? Solomon tried that too and despite surpassing his peers in wisdom and knowledge, the Preacher still fell short in answering life's questions.


I'm sure we can agree that there is more to life than work or wisdom and Solomon grasped that too. He said to his heart “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” (v1). If life is often fleeting then maybe we better enjoy ourselves while we can? 


The pleasure filled life was Solomon's next port of call. Laughter struck Solomon as madness and pleasure left him asking "What use is it?" (v2). Next he sought to cheer himself with wine seeking to grab on to "folly" to see if there was anything worthwhile in life (v3). Solomon lacked no resources and so he built houses, vineyards, gardens and parks (v4-5). These places were filled with fruit trees and these trees were watered by Solomon's very own pools (v6).


Yet the king went even further. As he sought meaning in endless pleasure he gathered extraordinary wealth (v8), massive herds and flocks of animals (v7) and even copious numbers of slaves (v7). The King was a slave owner and these slaves spent so much time in Solomon's service that even their children were born under Solomon's roof (v7).


It seems that no part of Solomon's day was spent without pleasure. He enjoyed the finest singers during the day and by night he enjoyed sexual intimacy with his many concubines (v8). Who or what is a concubine? Solomon had women under his roof who were not his wife, these were his concubines and he had a physical relationship with them. Scripture tells us that Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11v3). Solomon denied himself no earthly pleasure but still found only vanity.


So is the Christian life to be grey, dour and humourless? By no means! We can and should be thankful for the pleasures of this world. Many of you sat down about two weeks ago and enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with people you love, humanity's ability to create can sometimes leave us breathless and although we don't speak of these things in polite company, sexual intimacy with our husband or wife is a wonderful gift.


So the Christian life is not supposed to be like a wet weekend in a caravan with a leaky roof but equally the pleasures of this world are not to be turned into "gods". We are to enjoy the pleasures of this world wisely and in thankfulness to the God who made all things, but we are never to replace the Lord with a "god" who can't speak, answer or save. Many have realised to their cost that money, sex, possessions or laughter are poor "gods" indeed. Christ taught exactly this when He spoke about the foolish man who built bigger barns to store his possessions before losing his life that same night (Luke 12v13-21).


Two things can be true - life need not be drudgery and our hearts need not be captured by pleasure. Instead life under the sun is best lived enjoying God and the multitude of gifts He gives us every single day. Thank him today for that lovely cup of tea, the car that makes your daily commute easy and the home full of memories. These things and more are little glimpses of God's goodness and a reminder that the best is yet to come.  


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q39 What is the duty which God requireth of man? The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.
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