| Philippians 2:5-7 – “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant” |
For quite some time now, I have read the first chapter of Ecclesiastes each night before getting in bed. And then I added chapter 2. The writer is very wealthy. Nothing is beyond his grasp. God gives him wisdom to the point that it grieves him and hurts. He pursues pleasures. Wine. Women (700 concubines). And all the rest. But who will get it when he dies? It bothers him to ponder a fool inheriting what he has worked hard to gather.
I am trying to squeeze meaning out of what he is saying. Like George Washington Carver squeezing things out of the peanut, I just want to dive deep into this one chapter. I thought about Alexander the Great, who ran the table in world conquest. Now, none of it is his. Or Jerry Jones, owner of the most lucrative sports franchise in the USA. In a few years it will belong to someone else. And my guitar will belong to someone else. All the stuff in our garage will be in someone else’s garage or in a landfill somewhere near here.
What I am hearing is this: live life focused on what you can possess, on pleasuring yourself, and your life will trickle through your fingers like water, and you will take nothing away from here. All for nothing. But live a life of sacrifice to God, (be poured out like wine on the altar), and God will pour His spiritual blessings all over your head.
Father in heaven, thank You for teaching us how to die so we can live, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
-Jeff Beall
