Money, money, money! (Ecc 2:7).

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Ecc 2:1-11.

Meditation

Solomon has found that both alcohol and work are dead ends in the search for satisfaction. What else can we try? As he looks around, he notices that people seem to like money and possessions. They chase after it. They hoard it. That is still true today. There is a constant chase for a higher pay grade. People buy lottery tickets in the hope of a dream. The pursuit of wealth has always loomed large under the sun. So Solomon sees all this and says, alright, let us see if wealth and possessions can do the trick.

Verse 7 reads, “I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces.”

In 2 Chronicles 9 we learn that Solomon had so much gold that he ate with golden cutlery. He drank from gold cups. His interior decorators specialized in gold. In the reign of Solomon, scripture says, silver was considered worthless. That is how much money he was racking in. He made Bill Gates look like a pauper. And yet, as he gains mountains of treasure, what does he find? Is it satisfaction? Lasting contentment? True happiness?

It is vanity, says the preacher. All of it is passing away. You cannot take it with you. There is no real gain to be found in money. I heard a good joke from another preacher, and I am going to steal it and use it here because it illustrates a good point. There was a rich old man, and as he approached his death he made his wife promise to bury his money with him. She agreed to do that. After a time the man died. As they lowered his body into the grave, a friend noticed the wife dropping a piece of paper in with the coffin. The friend came and said, did you bury him with his money as he requested? And she said, yes I did. I put all the money into my account and wrote him a cheque, and he can collect it all just as soon as he cashes that cheque. What good can money do us? What lasting satisfaction is there to be found in it? To chase after money and heap it up truly is as foolish as trying to take hold of the wind. It is to seek after something that you cannot hold.

And this is so challenging to us, is it not? Because it forces us to ask, what place does money hold in our hearts? How precious are our possessions to us?

I know of an older couple through a pastor friend of mine. This couple were Christians, faithful, church-going folk. This is a true story. They were good at saving their money and using it sparingly, if that is a good thing. As they approached old age, they had to sell their farming property. They had bought it decades before, and for a number of reasons it had increased in value significantly. They had a lot of money, and their property was worth a lot of money. Yet as they went through the selling process, at one point it looked as though they might lose a significant portion of the equity in their property. They were full of anxiety and concern. The thought of losing that equity filled many of their waking hours and often occupied their minds with worry. My pastor friend said to me that these people had more money than most could ever dream of possessing, and given their thrifty lifestyle, it seemed highly unlikely that they would be using it all before they died.

There is nothing wrong with leaving a good inheritance behind. In fact, that is a godly thing to do. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” But as our hearts are occupied with money and possessions, as we strive for more of it, as we clutch what we have of it, we need to remember that it is temporary. Wealth is not to be gained for the purpose of satisfaction. It is to be gained so that Christ may be honoured.

Here is a counter-cultural thought for us to consider as we think about our possessions, our money, our homes, the equity of our belongings. The question to ask is not, how can I preserve and add to what I have? The question is: How can I use what I have to bring honour to Christ? How can I use my savings to honour Christ? How can I use my home to honour Christ?

The great cricketer C. T. Studd said, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last.” Money is not there to make life easier, more fulfilled, or better. Money is there to further Christ’s cause in the world. SDG.

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