If you’ve never made heaps of money you probably wish you had, thinking that you’d be happier. But happiness doesn’t necessarily follow financial gain. Or for that matter the extras that come with it. Would you like a second wife, or a third, or a fourth? A man named Solomon began with one wife and ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines.
It’s unlikely that Solomon planned to accumulate that many. Maybe he thought that his first wife lacked a certain something, and the second wasn’t all that he had expected, and the third…and the fourth…well, who knows? Most likely many of his wives were daughters of nearby kings and so were insurance against invasion. But Solomon was a king, and kings did pretty much what they wanted 3000 years ago. Not what was best for them or their subjects, but whatever it was they desired.
So, the fabulously rich king bought land, bred livestock, planted vineyards and olive groves, built a magnificent temple to Almighty God, and a palace for himself that was lined with rich cedar panels – and married wives from just about every nation nearby.
The steps to the king’s gold-inlaid, ivory throne were flanked by twelve solid-gold lions. He was familiar with exotic fragrances, healing balms, tasty spices and mysterious unguents, and he collected rare animals and birds from wherever he could, which was pretty much everywhere.
The problem, of course, is that when you’ve ‘arrived’ you’ve nowhere left to go. So when Solomon was too old for sex and bored by his many other excesses, he turned away from the One True God and prayed to the idols worshipped by his pagan wives. But before the megarich King Solomon died he wrote a book called, “The Preacher.” Its subtitle might well have been: “The Life of a Mega-rich Failure.” We know it as the Book of Ecclesiastes.
His book was not about how to grow grapes or olive trees, or build palaces or manage multiple wives, but about what not to do. After all, when you’ve “been there and done that” more than any man has and any man ever will, it’s a good idea to tell others not to bother. Why? Well, because prestige, material possessions, a harem, and unlimited wealth are not what life is all about (despite advertisers’ fantasies that suggest otherwise). A person’s life cannot be represented by accumulated wealth, celebrity status, or the latest in online technology.
Solomon ‘had it all’ but wrote, “Life’s meaningless!” He came to a negative conclusion. But the Single Great Positive in the king’s book is its theme: “Don’t think that getting everything you want in life will bring you lasting happiness, because it won’t – it can’t.” This includes becoming a celebrity, driving a bright red Ferrari, living in a house in a canal estate, or any other fantasy you might dream about.
Learn from King Solomon. Better still, learn from Jesus Christ, “a greater than Solomon”, who asked, “What point is there in gaining everything there is in life, if it means losing your real self in the process?” (Luke 12:15)
If when you arrive you are less of a person than you were when you started out, you’ll be most unhappy. In fact, you’ll be really bored by your abundance. Mega-rich people who drive Ferraris and live in homes on canal estates know this already, but most others think that if only they could be rich they would be happy.
It’s better to be thankful for what you have, because then God can bless you with more. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [the basic necessities of life] shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount was nothing at all like so many sermons taught these days on The Secrets of Making Money, which are more Sermons on the Mint.