Slipping through your fingers

"Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!" - Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

I love Solomon's image of money slipping through your fingers. It is such a vivid word picture of how easily money slips from our grasp. And the more we seem to grab for it, the quicker it disappears. 

He touches on something else quite interesting in today's reading - that is the notion of how other people will flock around you in order to help you spend what you have got. This is very true and perhaps explains why many people who win the lottery find they are more depressed afterwards than before their big cash bonanza. The stress of having the money makes them less happy than before.

These are all life lessons that we need to learn along the way. Sadly, we may have to relearn then more than once.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best dividends." - Benjamin Franklin

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Times change - Ezekiel 27

 

When I read of how glorious the city of Tyre was, part of me wishes I could have seen it's great splendour and opulence. It reminds me of some of the prominent cities of the world today. Just take a quick read of Ezekiel's description of this impressive city:

“You boasted, O Tyre,
    ‘My beauty is perfect!’
⁴ You extended your boundaries into the sea.
    Your builders made your beauty perfect.
⁵ You were like a great ship
    built of the finest cypress from Senir.
They took a cedar from Lebanon
    to make a mast for you.
⁶ They carved your oars
    from the oaks of Bashan.
Your deck of pine from the coasts of Cyprus
    was inlaid with ivory.
⁷ Your sails were made of Egypt’s finest linen,
    and they flew as a banner above you.
You stood beneath blue and purple awnings
    made bright with dyes from the coasts of Elishah.
⁸ Your oarsmen came from Sidon and Arvad;
    your helmsmen were skilled men from Tyre itself.
⁹ Wise old craftsmen from Gebal did the caulking.
    Ships from every land came with goods to barter for your trade. (Ezekiel 27)

The tragedy is that the people relied on their own glory and wealth and forgot about God. In their hearts they felt they didn't need anyones help - after all, the whole world was coming to her for everything. Tyre felt like a City without equal. 

But times change. 

Conflict happens and wars rage around them.

They lose their attractive power and very soon, they are just another city fallen on hard times. The last word of the chapter tells the story:

The merchants among the nations
    shake their heads at the sight of you,
for you have come to a horrible end
    and will exist no more.’

Let us be reminded that we can't place our hopes and dreams on material success, because when this is not around anymore, where does it leave us?

The Story of Jesus teaches me that he was willing to leave the riches of heaven for the dusty streets of Palestine. He give it all up, so that he could offer eternal riches to each of us. 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Better than money in the Bank

What is better than money in the bank?

"A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;  a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank." - Proverbs 22:1 (MSG)

Building your reputation is a hard thing to do, especially because it can take one incident to ruin your reputation. A gracious Spirit is something that we all can seek to have, no matter our reputation or what others think of us. If we get to show off this gracious spirit, then Solomon suggests it will be better than having money in the bank.

What do you think?

Living in Grace
D3LM3