“Enjoy
Yourself!”
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
INTRODUCTION
I want to start by
asking some very simple questions. These are simple questions but with very difficult
answers. Here we go:
1- Are you happy?
2- What is it that
will make you happy?3- When will you finally be happy?
Every single one of us has something or someone that we anticipated would make
us happy. We assumed once
once we experienced, once we accomplished, once we acquired this one
thing we would then be a satisfied, joyous and finally a happy people.
Fill in the blank:
I’ll be happy when _______.
My next question is this:
Do you really think when you fill in that
blank you’ll be a satisfied, joyous, and happy person?
Do you really think that will happen?
If we look back at the course of our life- 5, 10, or for
some of you, 20 years ago, at some point you thought; as soon as I achieve, experience, accomplish, and acquire
_______ you would be happy and satisfied. And so you labored with that end in
mind and upon achieving or attaining these things, you’re still not all that
satisfied, and you’re still not all that happy.
So we chuck out our old list, and create a new one with
more refined objectives. You put on your list of what would make you happy like
travel, Art Collections, Dream Sports car, $1M RF, A new relationship…. So you rearrange your list to reflect a more mature and
distinguished you.
Peter Kreeft says that this kind of living is like a
“wild goose chase, without a goose.” We keep trying to
make ourselves happy and satisfied by reorganizing our external lives. So we work harder to make more money. We pursue more
sex, more friends, more stuff, all the while not realizing our satisfaction,
our joy, our pleasure, has much more to do with the reorganization of our
internal life than it does with our external life.
Solomon is going to try to answer our question for us,
and he is going to try out what we put in our “blank” when we asked the
question “I’ll be happy when…” …that we would most likely pursue to find happiness and
the good life.
Ecc.1
1 These are the words of the Teacher, King
David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem. 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says
the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” 3 What do people get for all their
hard work under the sun?
V.1 Author : Solomon
V.2. Solomon uses
the word "vanity or meaningless" 38 times in the book. The meaning of the
word is a breath, a wind or a vapor. Metaphorically it
is unsubstantial, fleeting or transitory. V3. Aim or Thesis of the book. : Is life worth living?
What is the “good life?” and what will make man most
happy?
1. Fulfillment doesn't come through
indulgence. (2: 1-3)
“I’ll be happy when…”
Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the
‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless
Verse 1- He starts out by telling us that he set
himself to the pursuit of chasing pleasure.
What is pleasure for you?... Eating your fav.food,
Playing your fav. Game w/o time limits, sleeping on a comfortable bed, shopping
‘til you drop…, Some of you like to get massages… That’s my favorite part…I
missed my blind masseurs in the Phil’s..
Solomon tells us that he made a good hard pass at
pleasure, he decided to go after it with tremendous zeal, and he pursued in a
variety of ways.
I’ll be happy
when… V.2– …I can laugh all time.
2 So I said, “Laughter is
silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”
How many of you like comedy? I love comedy. I would love to
have _(Dolphy, Bubble Gang, Willing Willy, Tito, Vic & Joey, Aiai- Tanging
Ina) Adam Sandler, Seinfield, Funniest Video, Big Bang theory__as my next door
neighbor so that any time I was feeling down I could have him come over and
quote me lines from their shows. ..employ comedians to tell us knock, knock
jokes.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could have the financial means
and the power to have guys like that at our disposal to make us laugh all the
time? They didn’t have cable T.V. or Blockbuster, You Tube,
Netflix, so any laughter that came from performers came from spending having
enough power and money
Solomon says that his laughter that it was madness. He
said of his pleasure “what does it accomplish?” Can you imagine coming to a place when what was once
funny to you no longer makes you laugh and you look at it and say “this is
crazy!”
I’ll be happy
when… V.
3–…I can drink & be foolish all the time.
3 After much thought, I
decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched
at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most
people find during their brief life in this world.
Drinking
the premium wines
& listening to the best comedians! How
many in Solomon’s court said daily,“I wish I was in
his shoes”? The more that people drink, the less
enjoyment they get out of it. This means they must have more drinks and
stronger drinks in order to have pleasure; the sad result is desire without satisfaction.
If you
live for pleasure alone, enjoyment will decrease unless the intensity of the
pleasure increases.! Then you reach a point when there is little or no
enjoyment at all, only bondage. Instead of alcohol, substitute drugs, gambling, sex,
money, fame, or any other pursuit, and the principle stays the same.
When
pleasure alone is the center of life, the result will ultimately be
disappointment and emptiness
2. Fulfillment
doesn't come through achievements. (4-6)
I’ll be happy
when… V.4a– …I can buy my first home.
4 I also tried to find
meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.
Some of you want to move from your parents
home into an apartment, then you’d be happy. Then you move to an apartment and find out that you can’t
paint the walls whatever color you want, you can’t buy nicer appliances or have
your own washer and dryer, your own double sided fridge with the ice and water
dispenser. Ex. My Bike- don’t know where to place it.
So you think, I’ll be happy when I can finally buy my own
home so that I can put in my own things and do with my house whatever I want. Then you find out about association dues, and color swatches
you have to choose from. You also find out
that now you have all of your appliances you have to pay for every single thing
that breaks on those appliances.
Ex.EDH Tennis friend plants
For some of you, you think; I’ll be happy when I can get
a bigger house, in a nicer neighborhood, without my neighbors blaring Kid Rock
at three a.m. and racing up and down the street in their primered
69 nova. Then I’d be happy…and safer!
1 Kings 5:
13 King
Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel… 15 Solomon
also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country, 16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the
work.
7:1 “Solomon
took 13 years to build his own
house.
Solomon’s house took 13 years to build. (The Temple took 7 years and 183,600 workers). Those crews went to work and built his house. Imagine what you
could build with unlimited resources and 100,000 plus workers.
Wouldn’t be great if I could have a house in the
mountains, a place at the beach, one in the city, and I could gave as much square footage and as much land as I wanted. I’d be happy if
MTV called me so they could put my house on Cribs.
What else would you do with that kind of money? How about building your own gardens and parks?
I’ll be happy
when… 4b-6–…I plant vineyards for
myself;
…I could walk through my own private parks and sit in my
own private garden.
4b …and by planting beautiful vineyards. 5 I
made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to
collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.
How many of you like gardening? How many of don’t like
gardening but you like gardens? One of my favorite memories is at Dallas Arboreteum, when
we visited East Coast , Canada. The smells, the colors, the different types of flowers
and plants, the ponds, the rolling lawn, the trees, are all God’s creation and
show His glory. Wouldn’t it be great if that was our back yard?
Even after all of these accomplishments, he still found
no fulfillment. History is filled
with the names of people who made great discoveries, did tremendous works, and enjoyed the world's acclaim for
their accomplishments, but still found no happiness.
3. Fulfillment
doesn't come through wealth or fame. (7-9)
I’ll be happy
when…V. 7a– ….I have my own Workers! (7a)
7 I bought slaves, both men
and women, and others were born into my household.
He had 2 types of workers: Those purchased,
& those born in his household. He also
drafted 30,000 Jewish men to work on his various projects (1 Kings 5:13-17). (they weren’t happy with) “Maybe
if I have many employees working “under” me”, some think will bring
satisfaction!…Power!
1 Kings 4:
22 The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were
150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal 23 also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed
cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice
poultry.
In 1 Kings 4:22-23, we’re told that he prepared an
enormous amount of food that would feed around 35,000 people each day. This was
his posse. These were full time professionals who were best in their
field and were employed by the King to cater to his every whim.
Can you imagine this? A hairstylist could trim your hair
throughout the month so you would always look good. You had a chief, you had a
masseuse, you had a fashion consultant, you had a manicurist, you had all kinds of servants who spent their entire career
working to make you happy.
Every thing you wanted to do but didn’t like the details,
you had personal assistants that would immediately take care of whatever your
heart and mind came up with.
I’ll be happy
when… V.
7b–…I can finally buy that pony that mommy wouldn’t get me and
every other kind of animal that I like looking at.
7b … I also owned large
herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before
me.
Herds & Flocks – 1 Kings 8:63 “And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace
offerings, which he offered to the LORD, 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. So the
king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.”
If you had unlimited resources with tremendous acreage you could have your own zoo. You could have horses, you could have elephants, giraffe, hippo, lions,tigers and bears, yeah you know the rest. Any animal that existed and could be captured, you could own.
If you had unlimited resources with tremendous acreage you could have your own zoo. You could have horses, you could have elephants, giraffe, hippo, lions,tigers and bears, yeah you know the rest. Any animal that existed and could be captured, you could own.
I’ll be happy
when…V. 8a– …I’m loaded.
8 I collected great sums of
silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces.
Some of you would be happy to just attain the level above
of being broke. You think you’d be happy if you had a debit card with
unlimited funds and you never had to balance your account because it didn’t
matter. You could buy whatever you wanted whenever you wanted.
Some of us play or have played the lotto thinking that
Jesus was speaking about a winning ticket when He said “whatever you for in my
name…” Dear Jesus, please let me win.
Then you would be happy. Then you would be satisfied and
joyous. Then you could do whatever you wanted with your wealth and amend all
the wrongs of your life. Right?
From taxes alone, Solomon earned twenty-five tons of gold
in addition to the gold and exotic treasures brought by fleets of ships,
accompanied his innumerable other investments and income streams.
1Kings 10:
14 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold. 15 This did not include the
additional revenue he received from merchants and traders, all the kings of
Arabia, and the governors of the land. 16 Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold..18 Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory
and overlaid with fine gold…No other throne in all the world could be compared
with it!
21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as
were all the utensils in the Palace... They were not made of silver, for silver
was considered worthless in Solomon’s day! 23 So Solomon became
richer than any other king on earth.
Solomon had great wealth and all the things that money
could buy! Solomon had real wealth which was unparalleled in human
history.
I’ll be happy when…
V. 8b– …I
finally complete my music collection.
I hired wonderful singers, both men and women,
How many of you like music? Me too.
Now, back in these days, you didn’t have mp3 players and cd’s, DVD’s, MTV’s. You
didn’t have radios. So, if you wanted to hear a particular band or singer,
you hired them. Can you imagine hiring U2, …to live in your house so that you
can wake them up at all hours in the morning and have them play you a song?
Who would you hire? Some of you would hire a country
western singer…we’ll pray for you. Solomon has his own American Idol (Philipp Philipps,
Jessica Sanchez) The VOICE
I’ll be happy
when… V. 8c– …I can have as much sex
as my prescription will allow.
…and had many beautiful concubines. I had
everything a man could desire!
How many wives did Solomon have? 700. How many
concubines?” 300.
1kings 11:3
He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines.
And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
Tall women, short women, blonde,
brunette, redhead? 1, 2, 10? Their job was to make you sexually happy. They sat around
and primped themselves all day long just so they could look beautiful for you. Think about this…once every 3 years you would be with the
same woman.
I’ll be happy
when…V.9…I ‘m no.1, the greatest,
most famous.
9 So I became greater than all who
had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.
1 Kings 10: 23
So Solomon
became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. 24 People from every nation came to consult him
and to hear the wisdom God had given him. 25 Year after year everyone who visited brought
him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
Ex.Queen of
Sheba
4. Fulfillment
doesn't come through self-gratification. (10)
10 Anything I wanted, I
would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard
work, a reward for all my labors.
I’ll be happy
when…Etc.
V. 10…I can do whatever my eyes and heart want.
Better yet, how about I become my own boss! Then I’d get great performance reviews, I’d love my boss and all of his decisions would be right. I’d get to take as
much vacation as I want. I wouldn’t have to
be at work at a specific time,
Here is going to be the toughest part of this message.
You have to come to the same conclusion and believe Solomon when he gives us
his final analysis.
11 But as I looked at
everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like
chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
Conclusion
Solomon's conclusion of his initial reasoning:
Enjoy and be content with the providence of God. 2:24-26
1.v.24 Enjoy life and find satisfaction in your work realizing that these pleasures
are from the hand of God.
24 So I decided there is
nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work.
Those of us at varying levels below Solomon on the
economic food chain cling to the myth that if they could trade places with him
they would be happy, satisfied, and joyful. However, the parade of history from Jimmy Hendrix, Elvis,
and Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston
sings the same song as Solomon.
Hence, those on top of the food chain try to get happy by
chasing the wind of simplicity and reducing their stuff and experiences, while
those at the bottom of the food chain try to get happy by complicating their
life, chasing the wind of more pleasurable stuff and experiences.
Think of what you have now & enjoy it- family, car,
house, work etc. Enjoyment robbers: So Materialistic , so future oriented ,
pleasure oriented Ex. Dayday w/ kids
Not I will be happy when….
2.Life be
received & enjoyed as a gift from God. V.25
24 … Then I realized that
these pleasures are from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat or enjoy
anything apart from him?
It’s not only on the blessings themselves that come from
the hand of God, but also on the “enjoyment” of the blessings! There is no enjoyment in life without God.
Accepting life as Gods Gift .
Recognize that life is a gift from God...so enjoy it. “Thank God for what you do
have, & enjoy it to the Glory of God!” Count your blessings!
3. Life be lived
in the light of his present judgements.v.26
26 God gives wisdom,
knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy,
God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him…
Those who pleases Him in the present, God will…
1.Give more wisdom,
knowledge, and joy.
2. Give the wealth of the sinner to those who enjoy his
blessings in the present.
*Message Research
taken from: Brian Bell, Don Robinson & David Fairchild
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