The book is
Ecclesiastes. The author, though unnamed, is Solomon. Solomon means,
“peaceful”. The problem is that at this time in Solomon's life,
he is anything but peaceful. He has messed up his life big time. He
loves women. He loves them so much it seems he's married every one he
fancied. The Bible records that he had seven hundred wives and three
hundred concubines – a thousand women who called Solomon “husband”.
And you thought
you had problems.
One of the biggest
troubles his women brought him was the worship of foreign gods. If
you love your wife, won't you do anything to please her? Women,
wouldn't you like to bring happiness to your husbands? Solomon did
this by building monuments to all the foreign gods his wives
worshiped.
God was not
pleased with this situation.
The result was
that as Solomon examined his own life, he was filled with regret and
frustration. He had traded his allegiance to God for loyalty to a
thousand others. And as the opening verses show, the chase for
fulfillment always turned up empty.
There is always a
lesson in God's rebukes. If you're a child of God and get one, it's
God's way of refining you into a more Christlike person. If you're
not a follower of Jesus, and God brings suffering into your life,
it's to get your attention. The message in both cases is that of all
the things in the world, of all the striving you can do, nothing
satisfies so much as resting on Christ to make you right with God.
So ahead and make
those resolutions. Strive to be better. If you're a Christian, God
put that desire in your heart. But don't lose your cool if you fail.
Remember, Jesus paid for all the guilt you feel. Don't forget that if
you commit your work to Him, you'll have the success He wants you to
have. Pray for strength to do it. Then go forward as Paul did and
say, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the
strength”.
Here's to a great
2012!
