Devotionary

For Solomon, life had boiled down to a moment-by-moment experience, where satisfaction was short-lived and contentment was a long shot. And while he recognized that the ability to enjoy what you owned came from God, he wasn’t overly enthusiastic in his expression of thanks.

At the very beginning of his reign, God had told Solomon that if he remained faithful, God would establish his throne forever. But Solomon had failed. He had made a promise to God and had not kept it.

Somewhere along the way, Solomon had made it his life’s mission to focus on the gifts rather than the giver. He began to worship and adore the blessings, instead of the one behind them. And as he grew ever-wealthier and more powerful, he became increasingly more lonely.

Solomon and David both believed in God, but while one saw Him as loving, gracious and kind, the other had come to view Him as distant and detached. And those opposing views of God dramatically influenced their view of the world.

What Solomon fails to recognize is that time exists within the larger scope of eternity. God is not bound by time, and neither is man. Yes, at the moment we find ourselves restricted to this time and place, but God has eternity in store for each and every human being.

Solomon suggests that you enjoy life while you can. It’s all a vapor – here today, gone tomorrow. As long as you’re alive, take advantage of each and every moment. And never forget the sobering reality that you can’t take it with you.

In Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, Solomon is going to chronicle all his exploits and deliver his less-than-satisfactory conclusion when all was said and done: All was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Sad words that deliver a powerful message we all need to hear.

Solomon’s dissatisfaction stemmed, not so much from a lack of money, wisdom, power or pleasure, but from failure to find his satisfaction in God.

In Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, Solomon will set the tone for his entire book with the well-known words, “What has been done is what will be done.” In other words, he believed there was an inevitability to all things under the sun that robbed life of its meaning. But his perspective was skewed and his conclusion was wrong.

The church did not die with Paul’s imprisonment. It would not cease to exist when Paul breathed his last breath. The church continues to grow and prosper, against all odds.

As he had done in so many other places when given the chance to speak with unbelieving Jews, Paul taught of Jesus being the Messiah. Which led him to speak of Jesus’ resurrection. And this time, as he spoke in the synagogue in Rome, Paul found an eager and receptive audience.

God was going to use Paul as a means of revealing his power to the citizens of Malta. Even as a prisoner, Paul was still God’s messenger to the Gentiles.

Because Paul knew the message was from God, he knew the content of the message could be trusted. God was good for His word. And it was Paul’s confidence in his God that produced courage in his heart and impacted all those around him who had lost all hope.

This trip had God’s hands all over it. Yes, they would still have to endure the winds and the waves. They would end up having to abandon ship. But each and every occupant of the ship, from the sailors and soldiers to the prisoners like Paul, were miraculously saved.

Paul will see these two men, not as powerful representatives of the Roman government, but as two lost souls in need of a Savior. He isn’t trying to get out of prison, but he is trying to tell Festus and Agrippa how to escape from their captivity to sin.