THE CARES OF THE WORLD
Without God, we are unfulfilled, even in our carnal life no matter how high we live. We are not at peace with our fellow man because we are not at peace with ourselves. We are restless because we have no peace from God. The pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake was a sign of inner turmoil. Pleasure seekers have found over and over that temporary diversions in life give way to a deeper despair. The nagging feeling that “something is wrong” may be deadened for a while but never leaves.
King Solomon, the wisest and richest man of his time, gave himself to a pursuit of all this world had to offer, and he recorded his findings in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon testified that pleasure and wealth are futile (2:4-11).
4 "I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
" There was no profit under the sun."
Solomon concludes that life is God’s gift and the only wise way to live is to fear God: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
" Fear God, and keep His commandments"
THE CARES OF THE FLESH
In other words, there is more to life than the physical dimension. Jesus stresses this point when He says, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Not bread (the physical) but God’s Word (the spiritual) keeps us alive. It is useless for us to search within ourselves for the cure to all our miseries. Man can only find life and fulfillment when he acknowledges God.
" “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”
Without God, man’s destiny is hell. The man without God is spiritually dead; when his physical life is over, he faces eternal separation from God called the second death!. In Jesus’ narrative of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man lives a pleasurable life of ease without a thought of God, while Lazarus suffers through his life but knows God. It is after their deaths that both men truly comprehend the gravity of the choices they made in life. The rich man realized, too late, that there is more to life than the pursuit of wealth. Meanwhile, Lazarus is comforted in paradise. For both men, the short duration of their earthly existence paled in comparison to the permanent state of their souls.
ETERNITY IS IN OUR HEART : WE ARE NOT ZOMBIES CHOSEN BY GOD! OUR HAND EXTENDED TO GOD AND GODS HAND WAS ALREADY THERE!
Man is a unique creation. God has set a sense of eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and that sense of timeless destiny can only find its fulfillment in God Himself. People have testified that while they achieved their material goals of wealth, relationships, and pleasures, there was still a deep void inside, a feeling of emptiness that nothing seemed to fill.The author of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes describes this feeling when he says:
“ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
King Solomon had wealth beyond measure, wisdom beyond any man of his time or ours, hundreds of women, palaces and gardens that were the envy of kingdoms, the best food and wine, and every form of entertainment available. He said at one point that anything his heart wanted, he pursued.
Solomon said “life under the sun”—life lived as though all there is to life is what we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses—is meaningless. Why is there such a void? .....Because God created us for something beyond what we can experience in the here-and-now, and concluded:
Ecclesiastes 3: "11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, ..."
Chaim, least
Without God, we are unfulfilled, even in our carnal life no matter how high we live. We are not at peace with our fellow man because we are not at peace with ourselves. We are restless because we have no peace from God. The pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake was a sign of inner turmoil. Pleasure seekers have found over and over that temporary diversions in life give way to a deeper despair. The nagging feeling that “something is wrong” may be deadened for a while but never leaves.
King Solomon, the wisest and richest man of his time, gave himself to a pursuit of all this world had to offer, and he recorded his findings in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon testified that pleasure and wealth are futile (2:4-11).
4 "I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. 9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
" There was no profit under the sun."
Solomon concludes that life is God’s gift and the only wise way to live is to fear God: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
" Fear God, and keep His commandments"
THE CARES OF THE FLESH
In other words, there is more to life than the physical dimension. Jesus stresses this point when He says, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Not bread (the physical) but God’s Word (the spiritual) keeps us alive. It is useless for us to search within ourselves for the cure to all our miseries. Man can only find life and fulfillment when he acknowledges God.
" “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”
Without God, man’s destiny is hell. The man without God is spiritually dead; when his physical life is over, he faces eternal separation from God called the second death!. In Jesus’ narrative of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man lives a pleasurable life of ease without a thought of God, while Lazarus suffers through his life but knows God. It is after their deaths that both men truly comprehend the gravity of the choices they made in life. The rich man realized, too late, that there is more to life than the pursuit of wealth. Meanwhile, Lazarus is comforted in paradise. For both men, the short duration of their earthly existence paled in comparison to the permanent state of their souls.
ETERNITY IS IN OUR HEART : WE ARE NOT ZOMBIES CHOSEN BY GOD! OUR HAND EXTENDED TO GOD AND GODS HAND WAS ALREADY THERE!
Man is a unique creation. God has set a sense of eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and that sense of timeless destiny can only find its fulfillment in God Himself. People have testified that while they achieved their material goals of wealth, relationships, and pleasures, there was still a deep void inside, a feeling of emptiness that nothing seemed to fill.The author of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes describes this feeling when he says:
“ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
King Solomon had wealth beyond measure, wisdom beyond any man of his time or ours, hundreds of women, palaces and gardens that were the envy of kingdoms, the best food and wine, and every form of entertainment available. He said at one point that anything his heart wanted, he pursued.
Solomon said “life under the sun”—life lived as though all there is to life is what we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses—is meaningless. Why is there such a void? .....Because God created us for something beyond what we can experience in the here-and-now, and concluded:
Ecclesiastes 3: "11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, ..."
Chaim, least
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