Friday, February 10, 2017
Ecclesiastes 1:1 says, The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Solomon identifies himself, if not by name, at least by description. He calls himself the Preacher, and he was by nature of the fact that he was presenting God's word to the people there. Solomon had been guilty of sinning against God, but God had restored him. Matthew Henry says there is none better to preach than someone who has been restored to God in spite of their sins. That would include all followers of Christ. He didn't put the fact that he was the son of David or the king first. When we reach out to the lost world today, we must first identify ourselves as those who proclaim God's word. Who our parents are nor our standing in the world are important. Presenting the word of God accurately is what we are called to do. Verse two says, Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Solomon was sharing God's truth. When he looked to the things of this world for happiness, it all amounted to nothing. We look in vain today to find happiness anywhere other than in the will of God. Solomon was indeed one of God's people, one of the most successful in the eyes of the world, but he said it all amounted to nothing. We may be one of God's people and very successful in the eyes of the world, but if we are putting all of our effort into maintaining or gaining more of the world's riches, it will all come to nothing. Verse three says, What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? Solomon was not saying that we shouldn't labor, but that labor and all that we get by it can never satisfy the soul. Only our relationship with God can do that. If we reach the point where all our efforts, our labor, are spent to gain the things of this world, it all amounts to nothing. I don't want to belabor the point, but we must work for heavenly things for our labor to have any value. The things we do for God are what bring value to our life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment