“Welcome to the Land of Wealth, I’m your tour guide, Solomon”

Who do you listen to? I’m not asking who’s on your iPod, but rather who speaks wisdom into your life? Who, when they begin speaking, prompts you to grab a notebook and pen and feverishly take notes? I’m a very practical guy. I know the things I do well and the things I don’t. So when someone who knows more about a subject I’m interested in speaks, I listen. If you’ve read my blog before, you may know I love duck hunting. So when certain people begin talking about ducks, I tune in. I listen to what they say and value it over what others have to say. It just seems to make sense to me because they’ve been where I want to go.

That’s why I love the Book of Ecclesiastes so much. I value what Solomon has to say because he’s been there. Not only has he been to the land of Wealth, he was President. I like the idea of being wealthy. I say the idea because it’s like a foreign land to me. I think I’d like to be wealthy but I have no way of knowing for sure, the same way I think I’d like traveling to Paris. I may get there and realize it’s not for me; wealth is the same. If I want to learn about living in the land of Wealth, Solomon is a good tour guide. He pretty much drew the first map, describing the landscape and beauty found in Wealth. He also found exploring this land to be a daunting task. It never ended, never satisfied. As soon as he found a new land to explore there was always more. Some areas were beautiful; others were full of danger and pain. His maps are great to look at and glean info from, because who knows more about this wonderful land called Wealth than Solomon? Bill Gates? Warren Buffett? Mukesh Ambani (yes I had to look him up too)? Solomon could have bought them all and added them to verse 8 of chapter 2: “I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered the world’s richest people to mow my grass.” Solomon knew wealth. There was nothing that existed that he didn’t own several of, but toward the end of his life we see him writing these lessons.

You want to be wealthy? Listen to what Solomon says, learn from him. Read Ecclesiastes 5:10-16. See what happens as you get more and more and then see what happens when you’re not around to enjoy it. What good is it to gain things you can’t take with you? Imagine going on a vacation and buying tons of souvenirs and beautiful treasures you found as you explored a new country. And then as you get on the airplane they say you can’t take anything of them with you. What is their value now?

Solomon warned about devoting your life to the pursuit of wealth because you’ll never find it. There’s always more just around the corner. The more you get the more it takes away from you. So why do we spend so much of our time trying to gather riches? Why do we treat people as objects to use as we see fit? Why do relationships only have value if they benefit us financially? Where has your search for wealth taken you? What have you found to be truly of value? Don’t give the churchy answers or say what you think others expect you to say. In your search for wealth, what have you found of true value?

Things of true value:

• My daughters smiling faces
• Love of a true friend, my wife
• God’s undeserved favor
• A duck blind filled with good friends

Now you can keep the list going. Think about the things of value you can’t buy.