Week Three | Pleasure

Daniel Barta

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Day One

Story

All who hope to find in and through wisdom the key to the life - the open door to permanence, progress, fulfillment, and purpose - will end up empty handed. Wisdom is vanity. It is empty. When the Preacher discovered the vanity of wisdom, he turned to pleasure. His indulgence brought him to the same conclusion, “This also was vanity” (Ecc. 2:1).

He also sought meaning in pleasure. But, this too proved to be vanity. Several qualities of Solomon's pursuit through pleasure standout.

Quality #1: He set no boundaries to his hearts desires. There was nothing he denied himself. There was nothing he would not try. He listened to his own heart! Whatever his heart determined would make him happy he indulged in it. No one could say, "You are not happy because you have denied yourself what you really want, for he had thrown of the rules of religion, the family traditions and even cultural norms. If his heart wanted it, he got it!

Quality ¥2: He hold on also to wisdom. He did not throw all wisdom or thought out the window. He did not simply act rashly. It was not that his seeking meaningful ness through indulgence ended in vanity because he went about it recklessly. It is not that he indulged in sox lout didn't us a condemn and so now he has a STD and the STD spoils the fun and makes his regret have see. No, he sought pleasure with thoughtful wisdom. He went about indulgence with tactic ad strategy. Still, wisdom contained with indulgence loft him concluding all is vanity!

Quality#3: He had no circumstantial limitations to his pursuit. Many things outside our control limit our indulgence. Even if we would not deny ourselves, our circumstances often keep us contained. Finances, weakness, limited resources ad you name it keep us from truly pursuing our desires unrestrained. This was not the case with the Preacher. He had everything. there was no pleasure his money could not buy. He had hundreds of women, "the delight of the sons of man. Sex, food, alcohol, work, Lobbies- he could do whatever he wished to the extent he wished. And, he did it!

Quality ¥4: He gave himself to a variety of indulgences.He tried it all. He tried philontropy. He tried work. He tried see. He tried food. He tried wine. He tried power. He tried wealth. He tried it all. He experimented it all. There was "nothing under the sun" left to lose gained and done.

Amazingly, the man who denied himself nothing came to this conclusion: "All is vanity." He found no significance, fulfillment or purpose. All was for not, and he was left empty handed.

Truth:

God is not "under the sun" and he is able to be gained.

Instruction: Seek God the higher good!

Day Two

Story

In verses 18-24 of Chapter 2, the Preacher shows why he concluded his toil was vanity. He gives three reasons. But before we turn to the reasons we must understand what he referred to as toil. I believe it involves three aspects which we see in the text.

1. Gain and/or Accomplishment. We toil for gain. We work. We strive. And, we do so to gain something. We work to lay hold on sone money and wealth. We seek after progress and accumulation. This is seen in

2. 18. He laments, "I must leave it

Inhat I gained through toil] to the man who will come after me. Toil includes that which we hope to gain through our efforts

2. Labor and work. Toil includes laboring. Difficult, tiring, challenging work. The one who toils is different than the one who simply inherits. Toiling is hard. It is tiresome. It requires discipline and even skill. It is applying wisdom and knowledge with energy and strength!

3. Sorrow and vexation. God has cursed this world so that our toil is frustrating. What we strive for often vanishes just before it is grasped. We sorrow over disappointment in the thing we grasp through our toil. We know the sorrow over the loss of what we gained through our toil. It stings. at the dopest level to have something ripped away from us after we "earned it" through much difficulty!

Since sorrow cast a dark shadow over our toil, we are vexed. We are offered disturbed in our minds and hearts. We worry that the exercise of all strength and effort with not be enough to gain what we lack and secure what we possess. This keeps us up late at night and this keeps us irritable during the day. There is no time to enjoy, eat and drink for the slightest pause in our toil may forfeit that which we seek after!

Truth

God is not under the sun and He gives himself freely to toe all who will turn to Him by faith rather than to creation toy work and toil.

Instruction

Do not make creation Your gain. If you do, you will labor without rest, you will know sorrow and vexation, you will know no joy and you will lot left empty handed.

Day Three

Story

Yesterday, we saw that the "toil "of which the Preacher spoke included gain, labor, and vexation/sorrow. In the same verses we also are given by the Preacher why this toil is vanity.

Reason#1: The gain is possibly given to a fool. At death we lose what little control we think we possess. Our grain is ripped away from us and entrusted to another. The entire we spend our lives building is turned over to another who may squander it, who may act foolishly and destroy it. All we worked for will go to another won we do not know, won ro do not got to select.

Reason #2: The gain is going to someone who did not work for it. You toiled under great lodoor, sorrow and vexation. You made sacrifice after sacrifice and one day some other fellow will enjoy the fruit of your labor without the labor. Some lazy knucklehead is going to get drunk off your nine and fill up with pleasure off your labor!

Reason #3: The gain does not lead to a restful/peaceful or contented heart. We tend to think that our hearts will find rest when our needs and wants are met and secure. This is why money is so attractive. We labor to gain and secure money, for money offers the hope that what we need and want car be gained and secured. Yes, when we receive the check a sense of security and contentment lads on our heart and ve rejoice, but this security and contentment is vanity. It is fleeting like a vapor. It cannot provide the security we hope it will provide. We know deep down than in a moment all money provides may toe ripped away!

According to the Preacher, our toil is vanity for that which we toil to gain is vulnerable. It will be exposed to the fool. It will be given to the one who did not appreciate it. Or, it will just cause us great anxiety as we suppress the reality it will never be enough to secure our needs and desires. The heart cannot rest even though it labors in great sorrow and vexation.

Truth

God is about the sun, and He alone can secure our needs and desires making rest of the heart possible.

Instruction

Make the glory of God the air of Your work and labor!

Do not attempt to find security and

satisfaction through the gain of those things under the sun.

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