The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 17 September 2020 – Futility Of Earthly Pleasure
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Topic: Futility Of Earthly Pleasure
Read: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 (NKJV)
- I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure“; but surely, this also [was] vanity.
- I said of laughter — “Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
- I searched in my heart [how] to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what [was] good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
- I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
- I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all [kinds] of fruit trees in them.
- I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.
- I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
- I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, [and] musical instruments of all kinds.
- So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
- Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.
- Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all [was] vanity and grasping for the wind. [There was] no profit under the sun.
THE MESSAGE:
King Solomon continued to experiment in his quest to find something worthwhile in life (verse 3). He used pleasure in today’s passage and ended up finding that seeking pleasure for happiness and fulfilment is futile.
Today’s world is pleasure-mad. Millions will pay almost any amount of money to ‘buy experiences’ and temporarily escape the burdens of life. There are three reasons pleasure-seeking will always fail to give joy. First, pleasure-seeking usually becomes a selfish endeavour; and selfishness destroys true joy. People who live for pleasure will usually exploit people around them to get what they want, and they end up with broken relationships as well as empty hearts. People are more important than things and thrills. Secondly, if you live for pleasure alone, enjoyment will decrease because you will reach a point when there will be little or no enjoyment at all, only bondage. For example, the more people drink, the less enjoyment they get out of it; they must have more strong drinks in order to have pleasure; the sad result is desire without satisfaction, and from here, they will move to drugs, gambling, sex, etc., which consequence is disappointment and emptiness. Third, pleasure appeals to only a part of the person and ignores the total being. There will be true joy when the whole parts of you experience joy, not just your body. Pleasure cannot give your soul and spirit fulfilment. Connection with the Creator through Christ (being born again), and daily living by Scriptures and prayers will give total and true joy
PRAYER: Dear Lord, I pray that those who are in bondage of addiction to worldly pleasure, whose lives and homes are being destroyed, shall be set free.Give me grace not to live for only pleasure. Amen.
