HEDONISM

The definition of Hedonism is the "Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses" Solomon having concluded that life is meaningless decided to test it with pleasure (Ecc 2). He pursued anything and everything he found pleasurable.

vs10 "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure."

He started drinking too much in the hope that he would be happy in that intoxicated state... but nothing. The wisest man in the world, who God had loaded with godly wisdom gave it all up and embraced foolishness!! He knew that going the hedonistic way was foolishness but he did it anyway. How many of us know what he is talking about?! It always looks like the people who have embraced a life of pleasure are having more fun than you are. They think you are too uptight. You need to loosen up a little, but this pleasure still leaves them empty. Take a look at Hollywood. Solomon found no joy in it.

If you think you are hedonistic you have no clue. This man had more money than Warren Buffet, and he ruled nations. He amassed great wealth for himself. He built himself a Harem of 1000 women. Dude! It took him 3 years to make the rounds if he was to spend every night with one of them! And yet he asked in vs 2 "what does pleasure accomplish?" The pleasure, the drunkeness, the wealth, gave his life no meaning and no pleasure at all.

He threw himself into business, great projects, building, farming Gold and Silver mining, all for himself. He had servants coming out of his ears. Livestock galore. But still he was empty. Does that describe you?

vs 11 "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun"

He grieved the fact that after he had worked so hard to amass wealth he would then have to leave it to one who had not worked for it and as such did not have as much value for it. This tells me he had not taken the time to train his children well for the Bible says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Solomon was too caught up in pleasures and projects to raise up a godly offspring. And we can tell that from the stories in the Bible about his lineage.

He did come up with one healthy conclusion in this phase of his experiement though. He says:
vs 13 "I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness".

vs 14 "The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness;"

How amazing is this? A man decked with the glory of God's wisdom, trashes it and decides to follow his own wisdom. So much as to marry foreign women who led his heart away from his own God. And the sad thing is that we are the same way. How many times have we also been foolish Galatians? Starting in the Spirit and ending in the flesh? May God deliver us from our own folly. And he hated life!! He had everything that we think will bring us happiness, wealth, health, earthly pleasures on every side, a harem of women to pick from, and new ones to pick from if he wanted to and he hated life.

We wonder why celebrities who seem to have it all commit suicide. This is it. They have tried it all and are still empty. Nothing makes sense. It is all meaningless. And they hate life enough to kill themselves. Hedonism is not the way to go. Indulging your every pleasure does not bring joy. There is more to life. There is that which brings meaning to an otherwise meaningless existance.

God wants you to work and to enjoy that work. To be fulfilled by it. That is a gift from God and we must remember to say thank you everyday for the work God has given us to do. If you are enjoying your work and amassing great wealth under the blessing of God, you are indeed blessed. However, if you are making all this money, gathering and storing away great amounts of wealth stashed in a swiss bank, you need to understand that we are in a season of divine wealth transfer. God will take that money you have hidden and stashed away, and will put it in the hands of those who will use it to bless others and to advance the Kingdom of God.

Is 45:3 "And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name"

Solomon put it this way:

vs 26 "To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God..."

This is todays big question:

Are you gathering to give to those who are pleasing God, or are you pleasing God by honoring him with your lifestyle and your substance?

God's heart is that you will use your substance to honor him, and so get to keep what you have and even amass more. But if not, sorry... we need those resources to further the Kingdom, and God knows your swiss bank account number and how to get the money out of it. Stop fetching water using a basket! You will always find that there is none when you most need it!!!