Focal passages: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
At 8 years old I received my first $20 bill. Most candy at the neighborhood store cost a quarter or less, making me feel like the richest kid alive.
I bought a Double Bubble bubblegum for a nickel and decided I would use the rest of my money sparingly, so it would last. When the lady behind the counter handed me my change, I thought she’d made a mistake. I gave her one piece of paper and she gave me back 19 pieces of paper and a bunch of coins.
My 8-year-old mind wondered if I’d actually gotten richer by purchasing something, which seemed like the greatest deal of all time.
These days I get excited if I can fill my car up with fuel for $20.
In Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, Solomon reveals wealth’s inability to satisfy humankind. “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).
The New Testament puts it this way, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wondered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (Timothy 6:10).
Often, the appeal of wealth is its perception of security, but King Solomon also compares wealth to the wind.
From where we came, we will return, and there is no wealth from this life that we can take into eternity (Ecclesiastes 13-16).
This chapter of Ecclesiastes closes by reminding us that God provides all we need, and we can find contentment in Him. Paul also puts it this way in Philippians 4:12-13, “I know both how to make do with little, and… with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content – whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
In what ways can we put Christ before money?