QT 22/01/2025 Wed. Ecclesiastes 6. Can More Wealth Satisfy? 更多的财富能满足吗?

QT 22/01/2025 Wed. Ecclesiastes 6. Can More Wealth Satisfy? 更多的财富能满足吗?

QT 22/01/2025 Wed. Ecclesiastes 6. Can More Wealth Satisfy?
READ http://www.esvbible.org/eccl6

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The line between responsible preparation and irresponsible hoarding can sometimes be difficult to identify-- Edward M. Curtis.

Chapter 6 contains Qoheleth's partial view of wealth. Though not complete, his views identify some negatives of wealth that are useful for people who are always planning and striving to gain more 24/7.

Ecclesiastes 6:7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. (ESV)

Not only does more wealthy not satisfy the hunger and the search for meaning,

(1) there is no guarantee that the one who accumulated wealth gets to enjoy it (6:2). Instead, others who did not work for it enjoys them. This is not to say we should not give to others stuffs that we accumulated for them to enjoy. This bring us to the next point.

(2) there is no assurance that humans would set aside time to enjoy whatever wealth we have now, even a part of it. "His soul is not satisfied with life's good things" (6:3). "Yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?" (6:6).

So what do we do? Isn't wealth one way which God blesses His people for being faithful to Him? Wealth does provide some security (Prov. 10:15), but Israel was warned against forgeting that God gave them wealth (Deut 8:7–18) and worse, humans starting to trust wealth instead of God (Prov. 18:10–11).

Ecclesiastes 6:9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (ESV)

APPLICATION: Life is short, and might end sooner than expected, in which case, whatever wealth that have been painstakingly earned cannot be enjoyed. Therefore, we must not lose sight of the fact that God gave His people wealth to enjoy while we can. Do search out the many ways of His love such that we give thanks to Him for whatever He has provided—food, beverages, relationships and other simple pleasures that can be enjoyed without being overly complicated, without organising overly stressful events or gatherings.

Those who spend great amounts of time and energy accumulating wealth must realise that we are not "strong" (6:10) and that one day all wealth would leave our hands, completely. Avoid pursuing things that do not really matter in the end. Would you use wealth in such a way as to honour God and bless those around us?


QT 22/01/2025 星期三. 传道书 6. 更多的财富能满足吗?
http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/ecc/6

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负责任的准备和不负责任的囤积之间的界限有时很难辨别--爱德华-柯蒂斯(Edward M. Curtis)。

第 6 章包含了教师(科希勒)对财富的部分看法。尽管并不完整,但他的观点指出了财富的一些负面因素,对于那些总是计划并努力获得更多财富的人来说是有用的。

传道书 6:7 人的一切劳碌都为口腹,他的心却还是填不满。

更多的财富不仅不能满足人们的饥渴和对意义的探求,反而会让人们更加迷失方向、

(1)无法保证积累财富的人能够享受财富(6:2)。相反,其他不劳而获的人却可以享用。这并不是说我们不应该把自己积累的东西送给别人享用。这就引出了下一点。

(2)人类无法保证会留出时间来享受我们现在所拥有的财富,哪怕是其中的一部分。“但是心里不因美物满足"(6:3)。"也享受不到什么;他们两者不是都归一个地方吗?" (6:6).

那我们该怎么办?财富难道不是上帝祝福祂的子民忠于祂的一种方式吗?财富确实能提供一些安全感(箴言 10:15),但以色列人被提醒不要忘记上帝赐给他们财富(申命记 8:7-18),更糟糕的是,人类开始相信财富而不是上帝(箴言 18:10-11)。

传道书 6:9 眼睛看见的,胜过心中想望的。这也是虚空,也是捕风。

应用:人生苦短,可能比预期的更早结束,在这种情况下,无论辛苦赚来的财富都无法享用。因此,我们不能忘记上帝赐予祂的子民财富,让我们在有能力的时候享受。我们要寻找祂爱的多种方式,为祂所提供的一切向祂感恩--食物、饮料、人际关系和其他简单的快乐,这些都是可以享受的,无需过于复杂,也无需组织过于紧张的活动或聚会。

那些花费大量时间和精力积累财富的人必须意识到,我们并不 “强”(6:10),总有一天,所有的财富都会完全离开我们的手。避免追求那些最终并不重要的东西。你会以这样的方式来使用财富,以荣耀上帝和祝福我们周围的人吗?