When the stock market crashed in 1929 certain investors who had lost their fortunes jumped out the windows of their high-rise offices. They were so unwilling to give up the luxurious lifestyles they had grown to enjoy that they chose death over a life of “going without”.
Everyone knows how easy it is to get accustomed to a higher standard of living while it seems almost impossible to endure the agony of giving up material comforts we’re used to.
Success and prosperity, they are a two-edged sword. On the one hand they can transform our lives and those of others in many positive ways. On the other hand, prosperity can lead us down a path of pride, sensuality and selfishness.
David’s son Solomon followed his father to the throne of Israel. He inherited a nation united, strong and with a booming economy. Being talented and charismatic, Solomon took Israel to even greater successes. He was a king who had it all.
As so often happens, the “all” destroyed him. His money, power, status and wives took from him what held everything together – his relationship with God. By the end of his life he wrote, “I looked at all I had done and it was meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Living in the most prosperous country at the most prosperous time in history, we’re wise to spend some time this Sunday morning with Solomon, the king who had it all and lost it.
* If you would like to participate in the Story Bible series but have not yet received your copy of the Story Bible, please contact us and we’ll get one out to you.
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am
Hawaii Lutheran Church (WELS)
- Community Lutheran Church
- Honolulu, HI
- Community Lutheran Church holds protestant chapel services in Honolulu, Hawaii near Pearl Harbor, HI. We are next to the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hickam Air Force Base, and Fort Shafter Hawaii. Look for us directly behind the Salt Lake, Hawaii, Target.