"Restless" Most Toys

Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 “Most Toys”

This next passage talks about wealth and possessions. As a Christians we need to have the right perspective on these things and why we have them. If we don’t we will be restless. If we do it will enhance our life of worship because it will focus in on the One who gave us these gifts.

Traps of wealth and possessions

Verse 8-9 Greed - Leo Tolstoy author of War and Peace told a short story about a men who was told he could buy all the land he could walk around in a full day.
Dropped dead and the servants dug a hole 6ft by 3ft and Tolstoy titles his story “How much Land does a man need?”

Vrs 10 Never enough- Possessions only satisfy a little so many are trapped into thinking the more I have the more satisfaction will come.

Vrs 11 People take advantage of you- hard to tell why people want to be around you. Real friends don’t care about what you own.

Vrs 12 Much to worry about- (house in Florida, hurricane ill)

Vrs 13 Hard to acquire- If you work hard for something, often times your attitude becomes prideful and you have sense of entitlement.
Vrs 14 Suffer loss - Martin Luther Said I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.
Verses 15-16 Temporal – only for this life, the things of this life will make no difference in the next unless you use them to bring Jesus glory.




Vrs 17 False sense of Protection – Just cause you have it does not mean you will keep it.
Leonard Lauder, Former president of Estee Lauder said
“When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with the money will get experience.”
Can’t protect you from sickness, death, sorrow
A parenthesis, Solomon pauses and tells us about the purpose
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Verses 18-20 The purposes of wealth and possessions
Not monastic living. Possessions are evil. This is actually a form of escape, rather then using wealth and possessions for a purpose.
1. Enjoy
It is important for us to understand that God is not anti material possessions
Randy Alcorn in his book entitled “Heaven” talks about how the idea of heaven as floating around on a cloud because you are with God and thinking about Him, is from Plato. And reminds us that Heaven is a material place for our enjoyment with the Lord. Go back to the Garden before sin when Eve picked a Mango from a tree and was like “wow this is good…Adam eat this” was it wrong for her to enjoy the material gifts…no, it made her realize and think of God and say things like what a great God.
2. Reward of work (Grandpa Czeck)
3. Bring joy (Celebrate)
4. Gift from God (God is a giver and we worship Him because He gives) GOSPEL Did not spare His own Son
5. Empowers us to do good. (how can you use your possessions to serve?)
6. Inspires Stewardship (take care of what you have)
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Vrs 1-6 Miss the purpose – Does not enjoy and worry about what will happen to his wealth when they are gone.
not blessing others with it and doing good and finding joy and being content.
John G. Wendel and his sisters were some of the most miserly people of all time. Although they had received a huge inheritance from their parents, they spent very little of it and did all they could to keep their wealth for themselves.
John was able to influence five of his six sisters never to marry, and they lived in the same house in New York City for 50 years. When the last sister died in 1931, her estate was valued at more than $100 million. Her only dress was one that she had made herself, and she had worn it for 25 years.
The Wendels had such a compulsion to hold on to their possessions that they lived like paupers.
Notices verse 3 “soul is not satisfied” GOSPEL.. better off dead
Result is verse 4 Darkness

V7 Consumption- if you just consume you will not be satisfied

V8 Waste- God does not bless us so we can be foolish and waste

V9 Dreamer-if I only had (dad and lotto tickets)

V10-11 False sense of power
God is in authority and you can’t fight it but things like acquiring wealth and possessions make you feel powerful

Vrs 12 Deception- don’t be deceived by a gift that was given to you so you focus on the Giver