当享乐不能再满足他的心灵，他便大兴土木，建造各类伟大的工程。记住，所罗门在位达四十年之久，因此，他有足够时间去完成各类大小建设。请再读第4至6节，试想像他把耶路撒冷及其近郊，建造得如何美仑美奂！他拥有庞大的财富。列王纪上五至十章记载他的财富多不胜数。所罗门王用了13年建造他的皇宫，又用了七年建造圣殿。

无论从世俗的任何标准来衡量，所罗门都堪称成就非凡；然而，这超凡的成就却未能让他感到全然满足。他尝试一切，却一无所获。他尽享一切荣华富贵，为别国王公贵胄羡慕妒忌，却得不到心灵的满足。正如今天我们称为「成功人士」的一些人，他们拥有私人飞机和游艇，但他们的内心只有他们自己最清楚。

基督的话正好道出一个简单的真理，在讲完无知财主的比喻后，祂说：「人的生命不在乎家道丰富。」（路十二15）有一本英文意译本圣经将这句话翻译为：「真正的生命，并非以我们拥有多少来衡量。」（NLRB）唯有在基督里，我们才找到真正的生命。

何不为我们借着耶稣基督得到完全的满足感谢神？我们是否应求神保守我们的心，不要只追求物质的满足。也许，我们今天要把马太福音六章33节再读一次。

Day 11

SEEKING SATISFACTION IN PLEASURE

Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11

1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.

2 I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”

3 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.

4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.

5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.

7 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.

8 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.

9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

10 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.

11 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.

Message

Solomon’s next experiment was to give himself over completely to whatever pleasure his brilliant mind could think of or his own desires could suggest. Today we would say he became a member of the jet set. He would have been perfectly at home and well accepted in every type of entertainment the world can think of today.

When that failed to satisfy the emptiness of his heart, Solomon turned to the erection of great buildings. Remember Solomon reigned for 40 years so there was time for him to do all this. Read verses 4-6 again and try to imagine what a magnificent city he must have made of Jerusalem and its suburbs. He had enormous wealth. The record of all this in 1 Kings 5-10 is almost incredible. Solomon took 13 years to build his own palace. Seven years were spent in building the temple.

Solomon was successful by every worldly standard, yet complete satisfaction escaped him. He tried everything and enjoyed nothing. He was the envy of all the kings and nobles of the world because of his enormous possessions and the pleasures he could have, but his heart was unsatisfied. Men today would call him a success with his own private jet and yacht, but in his heart he himself would know better.

The simple truth is summed up in Christ’s own words spoken immediately before He told the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:15, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The NLRB paraphrases these words, “Real life is not measured by how much we own.” True life is found in Christ alone.

Why not thank God today that you have found the real source of satisfaction in Jesus Christ? Do we need to pray also that God will keep us from setting our hearts only on material things? Matthew 6:33 might be a good verse to read again today.