Do you ever struggle with this misconception that reading the Bible is supposed to be like drinking a spiritual Red Bull? I often think that it is supposed to encourage me, pump me up, and get me excited about living the Christian life. When that doesn't happen, I may be tempted to think either I am doing something wrong or worse the Bible isn't all its cracked up to be.
I just finished reading the book of Ecclesiastes. Man talk about depressing! The book is written by King Solomon who literally had everything. He was one of the wisest men who ever lived. Royalty came from all over the world to hear him speak. He was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived. He made Donald Trump look like a poor pathetic punk. The Bible says he made gold as plentiful as stones! Solomon says about himself, "I had everything a man could desire! Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure." He had 700 wives and 300 mistresses, for crying out loud!
Listen to his conclusion about such things, "Everything is meaningless!" He takes a baseball bat to this crazy myth that we all are tempted to believe: "More will make me happy." Solomon's life and word's say basically this, having more money, possessions, power, knowledge, sex, popularity, or accomplishments will never make you truly happy.
Why is it depressing to hear this? Because I think deep down we still want to believe that having more of those things will make us happy. If not why do we spend most of our lives on getting more of those list of things? Listen to the words of Solomon again, "Those who love money will never have money enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness."
So reading Ecclesiastes definitely isn't that spiritual pick-me-up that I was looking for, but I think it is something even better. Listen to how Solomon describes it, "The words of the wise are like cattle prods--painful but helpful. . . like a nail-studded stick which a shepherd drives the sheep."
Solomon is saying that God's word is like a trip to the dentist office, "painful but helpful." No one likes going to the dentist, but without it we all would have a head full of rotten teeth. Without God's word we will all have rotten lives.
Just like I have concluded that my teeth are worth regular appointments to the dentist office, I have also decided that my soul is worth regular appointments with God and his word. I may not walk away hyped up, but I will walk away built up.
Final challenge from Solomon: "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty."
No comments:
Post a Comment