Author Topic: Solomon's World View (Read 2830 times)

Olde Tymer · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2019, 10:05:50 am »

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● Ecc 5:12 . . A [slaves'] sleep is sweet, whether he has much or little to eat; but the rich man's abundance doesn't let him sleep.

When you have nothing, you don't worry too much about losing it. But when you have a lot, then you fear going broke; and along with riches comes eating gourmet foods which sometimes cause indigestion and acid reflux.

I know a man who, as he got older, became concerned about dying before owning a really good watch. So, he took some money out of his home equity line and bought a Rolex Explorer II, a TagHeuer Chronograph, a Rolex Datejust, and an Omega Double Eagle Chronograph. All totaled, he shelled out roughly $20,000. He's very happy with the watches, but now worries all the time they might get lost, stolen, or damaged. He didn't have those kinds of worries when he owned timepieces no more expensive than a Casio G-shock.

● Ecc 5:13-14 . . Here is a grave evil I have observed under the sun: riches hoarded by their owner to his misfortune, in that those riches are lost in some unlucky venture; and if he begets a son, he has nothing in hand.

That is so sad. The ENRON scandal brought to light the dangers of investing in a retirement system that is solely dependent upon just one company's prosperity. When the stock price of ENRON plummeted, the value of its employee retirement system plummeted too; and so steep was the collapse, that many of the energy giant's rank and file were left with virtually zero dollars in their retirement accounts.

A veteran electrician with PGE (Portland General Electric) related how his account was worth something like $348,000 before ENRON's value began to fall. He couldn't do anything about it because his account was frozen while the executives at ENRON were permitted to move their money to safety. By the time the PGE electrician's account was unfrozen, its value had dropped to $1,200.

The sub-prime Wall Street disaster did the very same thing to a pretty good number of vulnerable retirement accounts. Though the Federal Reserve bailed out the big investment banks, it did nothing for the little banks nor for the innocent folks who were ruined by the collapse.

● Ecc 5:15 . . Another grave evil is this: He must depart just as he came. As he came out of his mother's womb, so must he depart at last, naked as he came. He can take nothing of his wealth to carry with him.

I once heard a story about a very famous rich man who died. At the reading of his will, newspaper reporters were required to remain outside and not allowed to interview the heirs until later. When the reading was over, a reporter approached one of the lawyers and asked how much the old gentleman left. The lawyer replied: He left it all.

Yes, the rich man couldn't take a single dime of his wealth into the next life. It all stayed here and he went into eternity completely broke.

There is a story, in Luke 16:19-31, of a rich man who died and went to the fiery portion of Hades. In life he lived sumptuously, eating the best of foods and drinking the best of wines. But in Hades, the poor fellow doesn't even have so much as a glass of water.

You know, restaurants put glasses of water on our tables as a matter of courtesy. The water is free. It's on the house. You don't need to be wealthy to merit a glass of water in a restaurant. But in the fiery portion of Hades, nobody is given any courtesy whatsoever no matter how prominent they may have been in life.

● Ecc 5:16 . . So what is the good of his toiling for the wind?

It isn't intrinsically evil to save and invest. After all, Solomon wrote in Proverbs that it's wise to look ahead, and parents are wise who lay something aside for their children. But the people who hoard, and who amass wealth simply for the sake of possessing it for themselves, are laboring for the wind. They can't possibly keep it into the next life, so the best thing for them to do is share it while they are here where it will do the world some good. It's okay to keep enough for yourself for now and for the future, but when there's a ridiculous surplus, find a way to disperse it. Otherwise, your hoarding serves no useful purpose, and at death your wealth is surrendered anyway.
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Author Topic: Solomon's World View (Read 2830 times)

Olde Tymer

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