Wisdom from Solomon:The Man who tried EVERYTHING

I'm learning quite a bit from Solomon, the man who tried everything. King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in his final years, as he was reflecting on his life. His words are sharp, focused, and experienced. He speaks from what he knows first hand.

Solomon was wildly successful. He was a brilliant thinker. And yet, he realized that all his quests for wisdom, money, and power led him to vanity. "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow" (1:18). He saw everything under the sun, and deemed all of man's work and effort meaningless vanity. He noticed we (humans) spend our entire live striving after the wind, and forget to enjoy life. This must be why my good friend says:

Do less. Be more.
-Dave Rahn

But Solomon also warns of too much pleasure. He made great houses, planted vineyards for himself, made gardens of fruit trees, parks to play in, dug a few pools (sounds like MTV cribs), bought male and female slaves - who multiplied and brought him more baby slaves, had the biggest zoo in the world, and filled the vaults full of silver and gold and some crowns, goblets, and jewels (sounds like National Treasure). He made sure there were plenty of women hanging around for his spontaneous and frequent delight. He said "whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure" (2:10).

And yet, even with all that ... he looks back on his life and says this:

Then I considered all my hands had done and the toil I had expended doing it, and behold, all was vanity (meaningless) and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. (2:11)

Meaningless, he says. Meaningless. He did all that and still came up short, empty, and hollow.

Do less. Be more.

Being vs. Doing

Over a year ago, I wrote on the topic of "Being" vs. "Doing".

I think it's time to revisit this. The following are some excerpts from my recent talk to Normandale Reformed Church.

Do we really “Get it” that God isn’t interested in how much we “DO” for him, but rather, just want us to “BE” with him?

This was a huge revelation for me this week.
That God isn’t interested in how much I DO FOR HIM, but His head turns when I express that I simply want to BE WITH HIM.

In English, we call this abiding (connect, be close, to be attached). Abiding might be a little like constant text messaging – even though a person is not here, you are remaining connected to them while living life.

Jesus tells a story of two men in Matthew 7. One builds a house on the sand, the other on the rock. The winds and rains destroy the house built on the sand, but the one on the rock stands firm.

I’ve read this a kazillion times, but something new was revealed to me this week – THEY BOTH BUILT HOUSES! They both had something to show for their work. They both labored furiously, and from the outside-looking-in, you might not have known the difference. In fact, you might have walked in the house built on the sand on the day it was built and said to yourself “Man! I wish I could build something like this! This person has it all together! They are a master builder!”

I can’t believe I’ve missed this all long. They both were furiously laboring, tirelessly building, and both had a house to show for their work.

But the problem was in the foundation.

And I’m not much different. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and my mind immediately begins calculating the list of things that I need or should do that day. Those are good days – usually the list gets put together a few weeks in advance. And sure, I find “space” for God – sometimes – where I’ll just sit and be with him.

But Jesus says makes it very clear that our lift ticket into eternity is a personal relationship with him. A deep abiding relationship, that is willing to be quiet, and listen to his still, small voice. Look with me – just a few verses before, in Matthew 7:21:

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Sometime when you have a chance, read John 15:1-17. Jesus invited us to abide in Him. The word abide appears 11 times!

The bottom line:
More than how much we “do for” Jesus, Jesus wants us to simply “be with” him.

Our Story is God's Story

I have a friend. His life has a story. Our lives are connected. His story becomes part of my story.

"And our story is God's story. So many of us have been conditioned to think of our faith as solely an issue of us and God. But faith is a communal experience. A shared journey. I have heard people say their stories are not exciting. I can only imagine how deeply offended God is with comments like this. Not exciting? If the story is about me, then, yes, it is only exciting to a certain degree. But the point of our stories and our faith journeys is that they are about something much bigger."

So, if you have a friend ... If your friend has a story, then claim it.

"I tell my story and my wife's story and my friends' stories -- I tell every story. I want others to see how they're all connected. So if you think your faith story is boring, take someone else's.

All things are yours."

(quotes taken from Velvit Elves, by Rob Bell)

Today- When I feel like I don't need Jesus, it's because I'm way too self-righteous. I trick myself into thinking that somehow I deserve all this ...

... that somehow I've earned this life.

The truth is, I need Jesus not because I am good but because I am very, very sick. Because He's seen my filth at the very core of my being and genuinely wants to spend time in my dirt.

He does this because He and I have no other choice - He, because I am His created child and He loves me unconditionally. And I, because there is this God-shaped hole in my heart that can only be filled by Him.

Thank God that He came to seek and save the lost (me).

How is life similar (or dissimilar) to a "Choose your own Adventure" book?

You know, the kind where you get to choose the next plot twist and "turn to page 36" to see the result ...

A stupid question, I know. But I'm interested to see what kind of similarities or dissimilarities people can come up with.