Prayer Journal
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
"For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it." Ecclesiastes 2:21
Upon reading this, a person might get the impression that the writer (King Solomon) regretted the fact he could not take his earthly treasures to heaven with him. And were it not for the fact his father, King David, left him in the position of king, we might conclude that Solomon regretted giving his children something for which they had not worked.
No doubt, the book of Ecclesiastes is quite an enigma. On the one hand, it's filled with good advice and on the other it sounds like the rambling of a sour person fed up with life. I imagine if you or I wrote Ecclesiastes, people would think we were contemplating suicide and assemble an intervention group.
I sincerely doubt the king's mind was changed very often. Very little of what he "owned" was truly his. The wisdom he enjoyed was given to him by God and the treasures he was given were brought to honor him as God's representative. The temple he constructed was promised by David and became the national heritage of the Jewish people.
What about his children? Since they grew up knowing they would likely rule when he died, one might easily conclude their family life proved how a silver spoon mentality turn the innocence of babies into pompous pride. When it came to obedience, he and his sons both will be remembered for arrogance instead..
How will we be remembered? All parents create the kind of atmosphere at home they value and children become the product of those values. That's not to say, kids are always "like" their parents, but more times than not, they become what they are taught to value. If they are taught to honor God, they will most likely walk with God, at least sometime before they die. It might be after a ride on the wild-side like the prodigal of which Jesus spoke, but we will according to God's word become the product of our "training," whether good or bad.
If your child is a prodigal, you might have gotten encouragement from the "traditional" hope verse of Proverbs 22:6 that says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it." Well, guess who wrote that? That's right; it was Solomon. His words proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Solomon's son, Rehoboam turned out to be a rascal worse than his old man.
May we learn from Solomon's example: when we train our kids to be just like us, we'd better make sure we're the right kind of example, because Proverbs 22:6 really works. Just look at how you turned out!
Just Thinkin'... WebServant
Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
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James R. Green and Prayertower Ministries
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