WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.720 You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.440 couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in 3 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:14.160 practical ways. Okay, well, Merry Christmas, Wesley. Yes, it is 4 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.760 Christmas Day, ding ding Ding is the most wonderful time. 5 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:17.960 Of the year. 6 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.039 It's a great day. Okay. Well, I'm hoping you're having 7 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.600 an amazing Christmas Day. And of course we're recording this 8 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.679 a few days before Christmas, but it. 9 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:28.359 Will be awesome. 10 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.199 I hope when you listen to this episode at home, 11 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:36.840 it's the most amazing day of the year. So before 12 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:42.320 we jump into today's message or today's passage, Desire wants 13 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.799 us to share some of our most memorable Christmas memories. 14 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:51.240 Memorable Chris, memorable Christmas memories isn't memorable and memories that's 15 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:55.399 kind of a redundant memorable memories as opposed to those 16 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.759 unmemorable memories. Then they're not memories anymore, which means they 17 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:03.240 weren't memorable. Okay, Anyways, I'm a little confused. So I 18 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.000 got a funny one. 19 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:10.640 Jeff's So, I grew up in Detroit, moved you know, 20 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:14.799 into the suburbs a while back. So during this is 21 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.439 like Christmas maybe not Christmas Eve. Day before Christmas Eve. 22 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.239 So I go to the Kroger who might have been 23 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:27.319 admire and I noticed something odd. There were no cinnamon. 24 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.079 Rolls, no cinnamon rolls, none whatsoever. 25 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:33.519 I'm like, okay, this is interesting. I went over to 26 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:37.560 the Hash Browns. No hash Browns at the entire store. 27 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.200 I'm like, is there something I don't know about with 28 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.439 hash Browns and cinnamon roles. So I just had a 29 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:47.560 funny moment there where like you can find cinnamon rolls anytime. 30 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.359 Yeah. No, it's all these people who normally don't fix 31 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:53.640 breakfast at home, but now they've got the other family 32 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:57.480 and so they're buying hash Browns by the pound. Yeah, 33 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.359 you know, three hundred bags of hash Browns and then yeah, 34 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.159 Cem there was literally like no, so they were gone. 35 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:06.840 Yeah yeah, all these crazy suburban people in over world. 36 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:09.800 There's a run on a hash brown cinnamon rolls on 37 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:18.639 the phone. Hey, honeys, that's right. Okay. Well, so a 38 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:22.680 memorable Christmas for me. I can remember as a kid, 39 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:25.800 I really loved and I think I've mentioned this before, 40 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:29.560 but I really loved Star Wars as a kid, and 41 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:33.680 I can remember getting the land Speeder right from the 42 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:37.680 original Star Wars and I got, uh, was it like 43 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:39.719 a could you like roll it? 44 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:40.159 Or yeah? 45 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:42.039 Yeah it was. It was the one that the figurines 46 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.199 would fit in, you know. So so I had several 47 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:47.199 of the figurines and then I got that, and I 48 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.000 got them the I got a tie Fighter that's the 49 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:55.960 bad guys thing, and an X Wing Fighter CHRISTI I 50 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.879 know that that was huge because I mean, we didn't 51 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:01.080 have a lot of money. We grew up pretty poor, 52 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.800 so that was a really crazy thing. I just it 53 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.240 was all my wildest dreams came true with that Christmas. Yeah. 54 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:11.759 So I mentioned that several years ago and then you know, 55 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.479 I'm in my fifties now. We go over my mom 56 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:17.560 and Dad's for Christmas and my mom had a big 57 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:22.120 presentation for me, and she gave me die cast little 58 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.479 hot wheels, oh versions of all three of those of 59 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.639 all three of those vehicles, and she said, hey, I 60 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:29.520 know you don't have them anymore, but you know, so 61 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:32.039 she heard me mention that that was like a highlight Christmas. 62 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:32.400 Cool. 63 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.319 So they sit at my desk now and off my 64 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:36.080 grandson comes in and plays with them all the time. 65 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:41.599 You know, I'm like, hey, don't touch on that's right. No, 66 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.240 he could play with them all that as it. Do 67 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:46.439 you have any others, any other memorable memories? 68 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.319 So I do have one. We had a cousin who 69 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.000 was just a blessing to our family. So my dad 70 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.960 used to work at Ford in the eighties, and if 71 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:57.759 you lived in the Midwest, you know that the aut 72 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:01.800 old companies weren't doing well right late seventies, early eighties, 73 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:05.120 things like that. So my dad got laid off from 74 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.800 four and we had like virtually no money, and we 75 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.479 had a cousin who bought me and my sister a 76 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.560 ton of gifts. So we thought, like Christmas, we were 77 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.720 already prepped mentally, like there's going to be nothing under 78 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.639 the tree, we just know. And we got up Christmas 79 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:23.600 Day and there was like a ton of stuff and 80 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:24.839 it's like blown away. 81 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.319 They mortgaged the house. It took him years to pay 82 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:30.720 that off. Oh cousin, cousin, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 83 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.160 I bought those items for us. That's fantastic. That was 84 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.959 really nice. That's wonderful. It's really cool when you get 85 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.800 to do fun things for a family like that. Yeah. 86 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.079 My other great memory is the house I grew up 87 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.639 in from the time I was five years old till 88 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:48.600 I graduated from high school. Was about eight hundred square feet. 89 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:52.560 Oh man, but my mom, we're living in the house, well, 90 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:54.879 my mom and dad and me and then my brother 91 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:57.519 Mark and then sometimes one of my. 92 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:59.439 Sisters in eight hundred square feet. 93 00:04:59.480 --> 00:05:04.199 Yeah yeah, yeah. So my bedroom you could touch. I 94 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:07.480 could touch both walls standing up stretching my arms out right, 95 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.519 which I stress almost seven right at seven feet yeah. 96 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:13.480 Uh so a small room. It was out on a porch. 97 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:15.560 My dad made this little room on our porch for me. 98 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:19.680 It worked out really good. So anyways, so we had 99 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:22.000 this this small house. But my mom is like this 100 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:25.160 amazing hostess, so she just is never happier than when 101 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:26.959 she has a bunch of people over. She's a really 102 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.040 good cook, all that kind of stuff. So I have 103 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:34.639 six older sisters and then my brother Mark, and most 104 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:36.600 of my sisters at the time were married, so their 105 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:39.360 husbands and then some of their children would come along, 106 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.800 and then my my aunt and uncle and their two 107 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:47.120 sons would come over, and then usually my other my 108 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:50.519 mom's brothers would stop by with their wives at some point, 109 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.079 so we'd have twenty five people in this little eight 110 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:56.319 hundred sqa shoulder. Yeah, well you just found your spot 111 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:57.120 and stayed right. 112 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:57.600 That was it. 113 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:00.800 And then it just passed the stuff around and and 114 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.399 I just remember how much fun that was. Right, You'd 115 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:05.000 have to open the windows. It'd be so hot in there, 116 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.759 and everybody crammed in and just trash in the house 117 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:11.519 with presents and everything. But it was so much fun, 118 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:12.800 right it was. It was a lot of fun. And 119 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.160 those are great memories. 120 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:17.120 It was like that for my My grandmother's house was 121 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.759 like ground central for every family event. So for Christmas, 122 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.759 you went over there July fourth, you went over like 123 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.519 that was just ground zero. And I remember that as 124 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:29.560 a kid, where there would be people upstairs, downstairs. 125 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.240 Some of the bodies in the kitchen. Yeah, those were 126 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:33.319 some good times. Yeah, it was. It was fun. It's 127 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:36.839 good times, man. So anyways, Christmas is is having a 128 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.639 great Christmas, And I hope you can move through the house. Yes, 129 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:42.639 and I crammed in shoulders should a bunch of startines. 130 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:44.319 But if you are, hey, make the best of it. 131 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:45.959 It's tons of fun. Yeah, you get to know your 132 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:52.000 family members again. Yes, So Solomon has had a really 133 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:55.680 difficult time as a results of some of his own choices, 134 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.399 which is crazy because he's so wise. We've had a 135 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:04.199 lot of people ask us in through social media on 136 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:07.560 like YouTube or whatever. People in comments lead comments asking 137 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:09.680 if Solomon was so wise, why did he make bad 138 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.920 choices like this. Wisdom doesn't guarantee just because you are 139 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:14.680 wise and you know the white things, it doesn't mean 140 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.040 you're going to do it. There's still a choice, right, 141 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:20.480 and so thank God for that choice. 142 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.040 That choice comes as a double edged sword, but thank 143 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.680 God that we're not all robots, and he gives us 144 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:28.319 free will in a free choice. 145 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.240 That's right, that's you're exactly right. It's a blessing. So 146 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.680 you know he's wise, he knows what to do. But 147 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.680 just because you're wise doesn't always mean you do the 148 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.399 right thing. And so for Solomon, he got we talked 149 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:41.240 about this the other day. He got more clever than 150 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.199 wise and decided he's going to marry all these women. 151 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.000 The women wind up taking him to worship their gods, 152 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:49.439 and what he started, you can imagine how it happened. 153 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:52.439 Women come in, you know, they're from other places. They're crying, 154 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:54.639 they want to go home. I need a temple for 155 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:57.600 my goddesses or my gods or whatever. Okay, I'll build 156 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.279 a temple. I'm rich. I'll build you a little temple. 157 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:00.920 We just put it over here on this hill over 158 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.040 here or whatever. And the next thing you know, he 159 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.000 kind of starts getting pulled into their belief systems. He 160 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.040 starts trying to blend their belief systems with God's ways, 161 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.160 and God brings judgment on him. So then all of 162 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.759 a sudden he starts having some problems with some of 163 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.319 the surrounding nations, start causing trouble, and then even internally, 164 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.079 God raises up Jeroboam as the new successor to most 165 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.920 of Solomon's kingdom. So Solomon's struggling. Now, after all I've done, Really, 166 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.040 this is it? And so the book of Ecclesiastes is 167 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:36.480 Solomon kind of confronting a wasted life, right, And so 168 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:40.799 here's what it says in Ecclesiastes chapter one. These are 169 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:43.440 the words of the teacher, King David's son, who ruled 170 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:48.600 in Jerusalem. Everything is meaningless, says the teacher, Completely meaningless. 171 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.000 What do people get for all their hard work? Under 172 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.320 the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth 173 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.440 never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets and 174 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:01.159 then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south 175 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.639 and then turns north. Around and around, it goes blowing 176 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.519 in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea's 177 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:10.120 never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers 178 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:12.960 and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome 179 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:17.600 beyond description. No matter how much we see, we're never satisfied. 180 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:20.159 No matter how much we hear, we are not content. 181 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.279 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. 182 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:27.679 Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say 183 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.799 here's something new, but actually it's old. Nothing is ever 184 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:33.679 truly new. We don't remember what happened in the past, 185 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.200 and in future generations no one will remember what we 186 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:39.240 are doing now. I the Teacher, was King of Israel, 187 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.039 and I lived in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to search 188 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.080 for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done 189 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.879 under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a 190 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.639 tragic existence to the human race. I observed everything going 191 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:53.879 on under the sun, and really it is all meaningless, 192 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.360 Like chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be made right, 193 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.279 and what is missing cannot be recovered. I said to myself. Look, 194 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.039 I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled 195 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.600 in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom knowledge than 196 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:08.960 any of them. So I set out to learn everything 197 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:13.559 from wisdom, from wisdom to madness and folly. But I 198 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.879 learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. 199 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:21.000 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. The increase 200 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:23.679 to increase knowledge only increases sorrow. 201 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:25.480 He's having a rough day. 202 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.919 That's a rough day. I'm like, man, I am miserable. 203 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.279 But it just starts off. 204 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.519 Everything is meaningless. That's right, that's literally how it starts. 205 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.840 There's no point. Yeah, I'm just done. So for those 206 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:40.279 of you, this is a day after Christmas. Merry Christmas. Yeah, 207 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.320 there you go. That's our gift to you. There you go. Yeah, 208 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.720 this is no, this is Christmas. This is Christmas Day. 209 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:47.320 Oh yeah yeah yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. 210 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:50.360 No, I'm want to go to verse eight. No matter 211 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.639 how much we see, we are never satisfied. 212 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.639 That's a good message for Christmas. Yeah. 213 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:01.200 I think about that like how he can get whatever 214 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:03.320 it is. So I think of it like neighbors. You 215 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.879 live next to someone and maybe they get a snowboll bill. Yeah, 216 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.279 and maybe they get an RV, or they get a 217 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:13.320 place up north, they get a boat. You never even 218 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.399 want it an RV. But now that you heard that 219 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.759 they have an RV, I kind of need an RV. 220 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:20.600 Yeah, yeah, I need one. 221 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.279 Yeah. It's like we as human beings, are never satisfied 222 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:30.120 with what we have. Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting more, 223 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:34.519 but there is something wrong with never being content. I 224 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.639 think there's a difference there. It's nothing wrong with pursuing more, 225 00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:39.759 but you need to have contentment. 226 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.080 There's nothing wrong with working to improve your life. 227 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:43.320 Yeah. 228 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.960 World, So Solomon writes all through the Book of Proverbs 229 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:48.679 about the fact that hard work should improve your life. Yeah. Right, 230 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.200 So it's not inappropriate as long as just having a 231 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:56.080 better life isn't your only purpose in life goal more money. 232 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:59.799 This is what he's saying is I've built i have everything. 233 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.279 I have all the women, I have all the money, 234 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.559 i have, all the wisdom, i have all the peace. 235 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:08.039 I've got a prosperous nation. I've got everything I could 236 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.240 possibly want, and I'm miserable. 237 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.480 Yeah, and there are a lot of people like that. Jeff, 238 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:15.480 I got the car, I got the house, in the suburbs. 239 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:18.720 I've got the three four cargo, I've got all the stuff, 240 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.759 and I'm still empty on the inside. So a lot 241 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.720 of people can, I'm sure, relate to this. 242 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:30.240 So in the Life Application Study Bible, which I'm always 243 00:12:30.279 --> 00:12:32.639 a big advocate, get yourself a good study Bible, I 244 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:36.559 love the Life Application Study Bible by published by Tyndale. 245 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.120 And in there's a note here at the bottom, and 246 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.679 it says Solomon had a purpose for writing skeptically and 247 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.759 pessimistically near the end of his life, looking back on 248 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.000 everything he had done, he saw that most of it 249 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.519 seemed meaningless. A common belief was that good people prospered 250 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:54.120 and the wicked suffered, but that hadn't proven true in 251 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.639 Solomon's experience. Solomon wrote this book after he had tried 252 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:00.840 everything and achieved much, only to find that, apart from 253 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.200 God made him happy. He wanted his readers to avoid 254 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:07.159 these same senseless pursuits. If we try to find meaning 255 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.799 in our accomplishments rather than in God, we will never 256 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:14.039 be satisfied, and everything we pursue will become meaningless. I 257 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:17.679 wonder if this book isn't right there at the end 258 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:20.759 of his life, after he finds out his family's going 259 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.840 to lose the kingdom, realizing I literally gave the kingdom 260 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:30.399 away trying to gain the kingdom. Right, Jesus said, what 261 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.120 is a man gain if he gains the whole world 262 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:36.320 and loses his own soul? So Solomon, through all these marriages, 263 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:42.080 through trying to appease his wives, builds these temples, begins 264 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.919 to blend the religions, trying to appease them so that 265 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.000 he could have peace in his nation. He's justified, it 266 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:51.679 very likely justified these decisions not as rejecting God but 267 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:55.960 building peace for God's people. Right, And now he's saying, 268 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:00.639 everything I've done apart from God was pointless to spin points. Yeah, 269 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:05.399 I've lost the kingdom. What was the point? And so 270 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.639 there is this sense then of man alive. Only what's 271 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:13.120 got done for God will last. Yeah, And I think 272 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.919 that's what he's struggling with here, is I've made some 273 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:17.039 really dumb choices, and. 274 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.080 I think as human beings we need to wrestle with that, 275 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.039 you know, kind of like Solomon, like all the things 276 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.759 that you're pursuing and doing in your life, what are 277 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:29.600 you doing those things for? Are you doing all of 278 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:32.840 that hard work and working more over time and all 279 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.559 those things just to get another new, shiny item, To 280 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:38.279 get a bigger house. You already have a house, so 281 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:40.720 to get a bigger car. You already have a couple 282 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.480 of cars. You know, why are we doing what we do? 283 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.399 And when we look back on our life at the 284 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.480 very end, was all of that worth it? 285 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:48.879 Yeah? 286 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:54.039 Pursuing all the things, and oftentimes, Jeff, we're pursuing things 287 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.840 that we don't necessarily want, but we pursue those things 288 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.679 because we believe it give us a good image amongst 289 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:04.399 other people. Yeah, that's kind of like why we pursue 290 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:04.799 the things. 291 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:07.840 This is a thing for me, it's funny. I am 292 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:12.159 a fairly content person. My kids and I, so we 293 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.919 just bought a new house. It was time to upgrade, 294 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.919 and we had some reasons why we wanted to do this, 295 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:20.159 so we bought a new house. But my kids were 296 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.960 laughing because I said, you know, this is really a 297 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:26.240 gift to your mom. Bonnie has waited a long time 298 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.759 and you know, finally got her dream house, all these things, 299 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:34.360 So merry Christmas, Bonnie. But I was laughing, saying, Hey, 300 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.200 if I just had a really nice camper, I'd be 301 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.440 happy if I'd pull it up back behind the church. 302 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.360 I'd use my office, use my office in my living 303 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:47.000 room home. I'd shower in the showers backstage at the office, 304 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.679 and I'd be happy living in a camper. I'm a 305 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.960 pretty content person, but it's funny to me as content 306 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.519 as I feel about life, like, I'm not always thinking 307 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.759 I need another shirt, I need another thing. I'm not 308 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.919 really a shopper per se. But if you ask me 309 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.120 right now, I could give you five things that in 310 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:04.480 the back of my mind i'd like to have, and 311 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:06.759 I'm watching little YouTube videos about them and stuff, and 312 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:09.799 I promise you two months from now it won't be 313 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:11.879 the same five things. Yeah, but there's always a new 314 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.720 thing that catches my fancy and I like to have 315 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.360 one of those. I learn all about it, and then 316 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:18.840 everyone's I wind up getting one, and then it goes 317 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:20.840 on the shelf after I do a few times. Right 318 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:23.879 right now, I'm looking at electric bikes. I want electric bike. This, okay, right, 319 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:25.799 So I'm looking at rad rovers. That is what I want. 320 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.159 So I'm looking at these electric bicycles and they're certainly expensive, 321 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.120 and I'm thinking I'm going to exercise on them. And 322 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.320 I'm not gonna, but I'm gonna. I want one, right, 323 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:36.799 so I always have another thing I want. And I 324 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:39.279 think that's what Solomon is saying, is there's always one 325 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:41.879 more thing to get, Even with all the things you have, 326 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:43.600 there's always one more thing to get. 327 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:45.960 Yeah, I'm ashamed to say that. I went through that 328 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.279 phase with the electric bike, and my wife bought me 329 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:54.559 a kit so you can buy regular bike, have the kit. 330 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:56.320 You have a little thing on the back, put the 331 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:00.279 batteries and all that stuff. Never even took out of 332 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.519 the box. Oh no, it is sitting in the garage 333 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:04.079 right now. 334 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:06.960 Well, you need to do it. You need to do it. 335 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:11.200 So the other one was I think that really stands 336 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.920 out is Solomon saying history just keeps repeating itself and 337 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.279 over again. And it does. This is one of the reasons, 338 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:18.920 you know, our founding fathers made a big deal about 339 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.599 that we needed to study history or will repeat history? 340 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.559 And what causes revolutions, what causes the people to be oppressed, 341 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:29.680 what causes tyrants to rise It's the same over and 342 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:32.519 over and over again. What rose you know, what caused 343 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:35.480 the kings in France to rise up? What caused Napoleon 344 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.119 to rise up and become worse of a dictator than 345 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.319 the other kings whatever, all these emperors. What caused all 346 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.839 this stuff to happen over and over and over again 347 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.279 is because every generation thinks that their circumstances are different 348 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.480 than the previous generation. But you know, do you remember 349 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:55.920 when it's it's funny how music from the eighties went 350 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.839 out of stylins is coming back into style. Closed from 351 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.799 the seventies went out of styles is coming back into style, right. 352 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:03.680 Yeah, we do with that all the time. My daughter 353 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.799 will hear a song and then I'll start singing it 354 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:09.079 and she's like, Dad, how do you know that song? 355 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.559 Because that song's forty years old, or at least the 356 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:13.400 beat to that song. 357 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.119 Yeah, somebody remixes and a new song, right right, Yeah, 358 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.519 it's so funny. I went into a music score store 359 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:23.200 a few years ago and I look over, and you know, 360 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.960 there's all these guys testing out guitars. So I look over. 361 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:32.240 There's this like fifteen year old kid and he's dun dun, dun, dun, right, 362 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.279 and they come up with, hey, we don't allow that 363 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.079 song in here. Every fifteen year old wants to play 364 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:39.400 smoke on the water or whatever. Right, So it's really funny. 365 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:41.680 And then it was amazing as we were in there, 366 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.039 we were looking for other things, but guitar players, young 367 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.400 guitar players all throughout the whole store, we're playing eighties 368 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.799 rock music. Right, they're trying to play play like guns 369 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.680 n' roses, They're trying to play like it was. It 370 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.799 was the funniest thing that every generation this was cool 371 00:18:57.839 --> 00:18:59.960 and new to them, but it's already been done before. 372 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:03.839 It's that way with clothes, it's that way with philosophies, 373 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:07.400 it's that way with I would say this. You know, 374 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.119 the civil unrests that we've had over the last maybe 375 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.400 five years here in the US. These are the grandchildren 376 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.960 of the baby boomers who did the same thing in 377 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.160 the same places. They also burned down their colleges, right, 378 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:24.000 They also fought in the streets and rioted in the cities. 379 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:28.240 They also were contemplating maybe some of the benefits of 380 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:32.640 communism back in that day. Sex, drugs and rock and roll, 381 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.000 the sexual revolution, all these things. And then we come 382 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:40.160 into the last five years and its sexuality is being questioned, 383 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:44.640 drugs being legalized, burning down our cities, fighting on our campuses, 384 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:48.599 contemplating that communism might be a reasonable or some kind 385 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:51.599 of socialism might be a better way, questioning the integrity 386 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.279 of our government, angry at the way that. Right, it's 387 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.839 the same, and it's almost identically the same, just maybe 388 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.440 even a little harsher than it was back in the sixties. Right, 389 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:05.279 It's about every two generations, two or three generations, we 390 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.160 go back and do the thing that was done before, 391 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:09.559 and if we don't learn from it previously, then it 392 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:14.039 winds up moving further to a bad place. So yeah, 393 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:16.640 so Solomon saying, man, I'm frustrated. It feels like life 394 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:18.480 is just life, and it just keeps going on and 395 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:20.880 what was yesterday is going to be again tomorrow kind 396 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:24.119 of thing. And then you know, really struggling here. But 397 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.240 he's really what you're going to find through this book 398 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:29.160 is at the same time that he's struggling with the 399 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.960 futility of life, he's also trying to find so what 400 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:39.720 really matters? And so one of my favorite Christian heroes, 401 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:44.039