Tag: Ecclesiastes 5

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Enjoying The Gifted Life Part Two

krisshetter

Did you miss part one? Go to Enjoy Life: From Meaningless to Meaningful

I heard a pastor recently talking about our wants and needs related to our prayer life.  How we try to manipulate God into approving our behaviors.  We mask our sinful desires by praying for prosperity yet have no plans to serve the kingdom with gifts, or we do so meagerly.  We pray for the right house to purchase and won’t open our homes to our church needs.  A better car, a good vacation, a husband or wife, a job, or even children.  And all along we don’t ever plan to surrender all those over for God’s holy work.  Or we make a deal with God to get what we want knowing full well we won’t uphold our side of the bargain.  

" And he (Jesus) said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

False “needs” and empty prayers.  They lead to greed and coveting.  It all comes down to not trusting in God for our provisions.  And not being good stewards of what we have been gifted.  We tell God over and over what He needs to do for us.  If He doesn’t perform that particular miracle then darn it, we are going to make it happen for our ourself.  Or worse, reject God.

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.  Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.  For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. " Ecclesiastes 5:1-3

Let your words be few, King Solomon warns us.  With few words yes, but with listening ears.  The Bible tells us to come before the Lord with our requests.  However, night after night, morning after morning we roll out our list of wants and needs.  Do we ever ask God if those are what He wants for us?  Imagine a relationship here on earth like that.  Your friend is constantly complaining about what she or he doesn’t have and what they want.  And they never, ever stop talking (sounds like a toddler!). Our prayer life and quiet times with the Lord are supposed to be a two-way street!  Not a drive-through ordering system.

In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart. 

 John Bunyan

A few weeks ago I read an account by Christian teacher Kay Arthur about the night, at 29 years of age, that she was truly saved.  “I’d been at a party.  The only thing I remember about that night was that a man named Jim looked at me and said, “Why don’t you quit telling God what you want and tell Him that Jesus Christ is all you need?”  His words irritated me.  “Jesus Christ is not all I need,” she replied.  My reply was curt.  “I need a husband, I need a…” and one by one I enumerated my needs.  I turned my heel and went home.”  

Her family was very religious but the Bible had not been a central part of her life.  She went to church but no one had ever asked her if she had been saved.  She hadn’t realized going to church and being a “good Christian” weren’t the keys to salvation.  She knew her sins were obvious and she was in deep spiritual and emotional pain.  The next day after that party, she couldn’t face going to work and called in sick.  She found herself at the edge of her bed crying out to God for a healing of peace.  She discovered the God who provides, the God who heals. She gave her wants and needs completely over to Him to purge and refine.

Are you constantly making a list of all the things you expect God to do for you?  Yet don’t plan on obeying and serving Him?  Are you usurping His authority over your life and building up all your stuff to fill yet another room or another storage unit rather than re-gifting your blessings to His Kingdom?  King Solomon starkly tells us this is all so meaningless.  In his study of this life, he ends chapter 5 reminding us everything we have is of God — gifts from heaven to be used and enjoyed accordingly.

“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart."  Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

The apostle Paul carries this theme of God as our great provider throughout the epistles.  Setting our sights not on stuff but on the Lord.  More importantly, setting our hearts to the heavens.

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:12-13

Is it time to do your own room-by-room inventory? An inventory of your prayer life?  An inventory of the room of your heart?  Maybe it’s time to give, give, give.  And to quietly listen for His Word so He can set you on the path to enjoyment.  For when you do, our Lord and Savior has promised us, “for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Bible, bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, christian men, christian parenting, Christian women, Faith, god, Jesus, Jesus Follower, prayer, proverbs, religion, Transformation Prayer, Uncategorized, wisdom

Enjoying A Gifted Life

krisshetter

Ecclesiastes Five Part One

About four years ago a few friends and I gathered together to start a new Bible study group.  We selected the book, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be, by Donna Partow.  It was a 90-day study on the Proverbs 31 woman.  After tackling such topics as meditating on God’s Word, creating healthy, godly habits, and family relationships we were asked to declutter our lives.  The scriptures for Day 31 were from Luke 3:11; 6:38

"And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”… (Jesus said) give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

It was the beginning of journey of freedom.  Freedom from clutter, freedom from hoarding, and freedom from stuff.  We were to sit in each room of our house and quietly meditate and pray about what the room spoke to us.  Was it chaos?  Was it peaceful?  Was it full of stuff that brought us joy or shame?  

“The key to minimizing clutter and keeping an orderly home is a resolute commitment to give away everything you can.  Give, give, give!  Give until it hurts.”  

Donna Partow, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be

This sentiment is echoed by John Wesley’s sage advice to “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”  Why? Because as King Solomon reminds us all in Ecclesiastes 5, you can’t take it with you.

"As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand." Ecclesiastes 5:15

And we can’t forget from Ecclesiastes 3, there’s “a time to keep and a time to throw away…” (v 6)

According to Pew Research, in 2013 the average global annual household income was $9,733.  In the United States that number was $51,939.  Poor Americans were actually classified as global middle class.  And only 2% of all Americans could classify as “globally poor.”  The good news in 2019 however, was that the United States, according to the World Giving Index, ranks first in charitable giving.  But the second ranked?  It was Myanmar, considered to be on the lower-middle income scale.  Researchers surmise this stark difference in income to charitable giving is due to the large population of Theravada Buddhists for whom frequent acts of giving are the norm.

So yes, the majority of Americans are wealthy from a global perspective and we give and give.  But we also hoard.  About 10% of US households are currently renting a storage unit filled with stuff.  In 2019, a survey found the average American spent $18,000 per year on non-essential goods.  That’s twice the annual income on average globally! One unconfirmed statistic said we have more than 300,000 items in our home by average.  That’s a lot of stuff.  And you have to ask, why?

"But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6: 6-10

And while many of our bank accounts don’t show a lot of money, our homes sure do.  So, when we were asked to sit in each room and evaluate the atmosphere, it brought out a number of uncomfortable feelings.  The stuff that had accumulated was embarrassing and not bringing my family much enjoyment.  It reminded me of when I would visit my husband’s grandmother’s house and think, “When she’s gone who is going to have to go through all this stuff?”  She hoarded all manner of paper goods and supplies.  When my mother-in-law was in her last days, I truly appreciated one of her last requests of me and my eldest daughter – to start cleaning out clothes closets and freezers before she was gone.  She didn’t want her husband to have to deal with it all later.

There is more than one way to be rich and more than one way to be poor.  If we accept His gifts, but complain about them we are guilty of ingratitude.  If we hoard His gifts and will not share them with others, we are guilty of indulgence.  But if we yield to His will and use what He gives us for His glory, then we can enjoy life and be satisfied.  

Warren Wiersbe, Be Satisfied

Our ability to have an income and even a “disposable” income are gifts from God.  We turn so much of what we buy into “needs.”  I’m just as guilty.  Because even though I did a great job de-cluttering my home during that study I’ve noticed the stuff has gathered steam again in my house.  

What is this need we have, especially those of us in wealthy western countries, to turn to stuff to satisfy?  To find our joy in hoarding money and possessions?  To build up bank accounts for the distant future?  We need to feel secure that the nest egg is the right size – even though the right size never seems big enough.  We need our freezers and refrigerators full, our garages and closets stuffed.  We need, we need.  Once while driving through our neighborhood my eldest daughter, who was about 8 years old, commented on an open, three-car garage.  “I’m glad we don’t have two garage doors,” she said.  And I asked, “Why?”  “Because that would mean we would need more junk,” she sagely replied.  Oh, the wisdom of innocence.

I believe one reason so many Christians in America are apathetic is they don’t really believe they need God. They have replaced Him with their estate planner and retirement fund. I’m not implying we should ignore planning for the future and, in effect, presume on God. But when you cling to your possessions and live in fear of not having them, you ignore the Holy Spirit’s leading and put your confidence in your wealth instead of God.

John MacArthur

Ouch!  Imagine if you would, before buying anything — and I mean anything – we have a short chat with the Lord.  “Do I truly need this?”  “Will this help me live in the fruit of the spirit?”  “Am I buying this because I think I deserve it?”  “Is this financial decision made in trusting You?”  I would probably buy less potato chips and therefore be treating my body as a better steward!  I believe this is what it means to pray without ceasing.  We are in constant contact with the Lord even in the grocery store, but especially when it comes to bigger wants and needs. A prayer life rich in listening and trusting God so that we can be good stewards of our blessings and gifts. Asking God to help us truly enjoy the riches He bestows on us — that’s what I want to seek each and every day.

Join me on Wednesday for Part Two of our look at Ecclesiastes 5, Enjoying The Gifted Life! Click here for part two.