The Simple Life

Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)



Eternity-Inspiration for Tuesday  18th November 1997


The Simple Life

(Ecclesiastes 5:8-12 NIV) If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. {9} The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. {10} Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. {11} As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? {12} The sleep of a labourer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
Solomon is no jaded king who envies the simple life of the peasants beyond the castle walls. He sees they are oppressed and denied justice. He is not even surprised by it. Since his forced labour programs were one of the main causes of injustice these verses seem highly ironic. Maybe they are meant to be. He says "the increase from the land is taken by all, the king himself benefits from the fields.". Edward Gibbon, the eminent historian who wrote "The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire" wrote "All taxes must, at last, fall upon agriculture.". The peasant pays for the king.

Solomon then makes another penetrating observation about the accumulation of capital. "(Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV) Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." Does any billionaire say "I have enough"?. The lovers of money are ensnared by it and held in its thrall. They cannot rest from accumulating it. This has ruined countless lives. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Then comes one of the gems of Ecclesiastes and a phrase that has stuck with me in the twelve years since I first studied the book. "(Ecclesiastes 5:11 NIV) As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?" How true! There is an exponential relationship between wealth and the numbers of those who wish to consume it! The more you have the more the government, the local charities, your family and friends will want "a slice of the action". The futility of having things just so you can gloat over them is so comical that it almost hurts. Things are for using - not for worshipping.

"The sleep of a labourer is sweet.." Solomon contrasts the happy worker and the anxiety ridden capitalist but it is no caricature, Solomon means it. If the hints we have are any indication he finished his years a quite unhappy man. He had everything and found it meaningless. The labourer is not silly enough to think that his life consists of his possession - they are far too few. Faith in God and love of family get the priority."(James 2:5 NIV) Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" For the rich possessions are such a plausible refuge that it is often only very late when they find out that they ought to have had a soul. There is only one time that Jesus came close to calling a person a fool and it was of a man who trusted in wealth....
(Luke 12:16-23 NKJV) Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. {17} "And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' {18} "So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. {19} 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' {20} "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' {21} "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." {22} Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. {23} "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.....


Prayer:
Lord we who prosper are in danger of being fools. Wake us up to eternity! Set us straight with You so that we do not give despise the eternal and value the carnal and temporary. Set us free! Make us wise unto God. Amen.

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John Edmiston ([email protected])
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