Ecclesiastes 10.19 19 Bread is made for laughter, and
wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. (ESV)
As I read the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes I tend to see
generalities that reveal specifics. That’s what I see above: three general
statements that point toward specifics. Bread isn’t always made for laughter –
I have eaten bread with a heavy, heavy heart. But I haven’t lived my whole life
with a heavy heart, I’ve only experienced that kind of sadness on occasion.
And wine gladdens life. Mostly. But sometimes wine gives
you a hangover and then life doesn’t feel so glad. Sometimes wine is more of a pain than it is a happy companion. And
there are those who are addicted to wine in such a manner as to be absolutely
miserable: les miserable.
Money does answer just about everything in the general
sense but money doesn’t buy love and money can be a cruel master if we’re not
careful. Generally, we want more money because we believe it answers everything;
but the truth is: it doesn’t. Money
can help in some situations; but money, and the pursuit of money, isn’t the
point of our life.
God neither worries nor frets about what He is to eat, to
wear, or to do today. The Lord never does any of that. He is above that and
lives in a different reality than we do. The Lord exists apart from our
reality. And it is interesting that He allows us to face the issues surrounding
bread, wine, and money as a part of our reality. But He expects that we
approach them the way He does: as a part of the present, but non-essentials in
our future.
In the general sense, bread, wine, and money are a part
of life but they aren’t the point of life. The specifics of life are more at how
we treat bread, wine, and money in our relationship with God (who doesn’t use
any of it) and asks us to be His friends. Bread, wine, and money are the same
on sunny days as well as stormy – it’s us who change…or remain the same; it’s
all in how we approach life.
The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
children. He doesn’t necessarily tell us how to do that in the specifics, but he does say that living life
has a point and the point of life is God; and living like He does. (Theologically speaking, God doesn’t live; He
exists…just to clear that up…) But we’re to imitate Him in the sense of His
creativity, His sacrificial love, His compassion, His tenderness, His love, His
wisdom – and things like that.
God does what God does just because He is who He is – and
He expects us to know who He is and then respond accordingly. The moniker Christian originally meant: Little Christ. We’re to live up to the
name by living according to His name. The general direction of our lives is to
connect us into specific relationship with God. It’s who He is and how we
respond to who He is.
And Paul also tells me in the general sense to specifically
make good use of my time – there isn’t a better use of my time than to get to
know God. Bread, wine, and money all have their place but they aren’t to be
preeminent in their place: only God gets preeminence. Father, help me to live wisely and to give the pursuit of my
relationship with You the place of preeminence it deserves – I just don’t have
enough time to make bread, wine, and money that important…
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