Key Verse: Verse 9 – “Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field."
Key Words: Moreover the profit of the earth
We should all remember where our profit comes from! In his book, Live Lighter, Love Better, Cary Schmidt writes: "True provision comes from what is eternally valuable and profitable. Sincere worship not only places me, it profits me (in a most Jesus-oriented understanding of the term profit”).
In this section of Scripture, Solomon warns that we are all dependent, therefore we can all fall prey to worshipping temporal provisions, which will ultimately let us down. He warns us that true worshippers will worship the God of the harvest, not the harvest itself.
Imagine a convenience store with a lottery ticket machine in the corner. Standing before the machine is a man who obviously needs every dollar in his possession. His appearance is disheveled and gaunt, and he looks desperate. One after another, he feeds dollar bills into the machine, mumbling a prayer under his breath that one of these tickets be his salvation. The man’s hope and heart are hanging on the lottery system. This is a form of worship. And this lottery is a most cruel, disappointing lord.
Imagine it’s a few days before Christmas in New York City. Just off Times Square is a Catholic church. It’s early morning, and the inside of the church is lined with statues and prayers. Candles are burning, and a few people wander in and out. At one statue stands an obviously worried woman. She is praying fervently holding a string of beads, begging this statue to intervene in her life. This statue cannot hear and will not respond. This system is a desperately oppressive lord.
False worship, in whatever form, promises hope but does not deliver. It’s an anxious system, not a restful one. It’s an exercise of desperation, not salvation.
Sincere worship produces a heart that knows real contentment, deep gratitude, and sweet peace. It settles my inner world, which stabilizes my outer world – it puts me at rest under the Lordship of Jesus Who promises to always meet my needs. It sets me free from the crushing lordship of stuff. It releases me to live lighter and love better.”
What to do:
✞ Remember, money worship is not profit worship.
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