# 11 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 6:2 Reality! Read all of chapter six first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ecc. 6:2 “God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them…”
Ecc. 6 Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “teacher” tells us “ God gives some people wealth…” and asks; “For who knows what is good for a person in life…?”
Vs.1-6 What is reality for us reading God’s Word? Answer: God created us in His image, male and female, to honor Him, to worship, to be fruitful, to work and take care of His creation. All of life is worship! Secondly, the teacher talks about wealth, he had more wealth than most people in his world. What is he saying?
The first thing to clear up is that: “Capitalism (Socialism) and Communism are idols at their core” (NIV Application Commentary). Let us establish that at the start; without our devotion to God, wealth is one of many idols in people’s lives. What the teacher is saying is that when God is not first in your life, wealth is meaningless, it becomes an obsession to have more and more. That obsession does not allow one to enjoy what God has given.
Vs.7-12 What is real in God’s creation cannot be changed. We either live in that reality or we live in a fake construction of what is real. “Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite.”
What is real in this life? “Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known; no one can contend with someone who is stronger.” We are limited in our ability to understand, as Paul says,” we see in a glass darkly.” But there is one human that is Perfect and Stronger, Jesus Christ! He calls us, redeems us and loves us. He “knows what is good for a person in life”! He directs the future, our future, into the eternal Kingdom of God. Praise Him!
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