The Self-made Man By Rev. J.

Patrick Bowman There is much emphasis in our society today about making it on our own. We should be as self-sufficient as we can, working with our hands, heads, and hearts to accomplish our goals in life. The attitude and action of working hard and enjoying the fruits of our labor is important as a stabilizer in our individual lives and in the corporate fabric of society. There is, however, a tendency in man to ascribe glory and honor to himself alone for his accomplishments, failing to honor the one from who all blessings flow. I want us to look at the accomplishments of a king in biblical history that for a time fell into the trap of affirming himself as a self-made man. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecc 2:4-11 KJV) The first thing we notice in this passage written by King Solomon is the number of Is that are used: I made, I built, I bought, I had, I gathered, I got, I became. When I am the center of my universe, we know things are headed in a bad direction. When I am the one doing everything to sustain the lifestyle that I have created, because I cannot let the Jones get ahead of me, I loses its luster rather quickly. Lets look at what Solomon, the self-made man, had created. He built houses and vineyards for himself. He made parks and gardens and orchards, and we can be sure he spared no expense in their construction and upkeep. He planted what seemed like forests and made high pools to supply irrigation. He conscribed male and female slaves and had the largest herds and flocks of anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem. He possessed silver and gold and the treasuries of kings and provinces. He had his own choir of men and women and many hundreds of wives and concubines. He became great and surpassed all that came before him in the holy city. Whatever his eyes desired he had. He put no limitation on having what his heart pleasured in. Quite a life, huh? All riches, possessions, wine, women, and song. By societal standards, both his and ours, the man had made it. There was once a fiction character that had only to wish for something and he got it instantly. He wished for a house, and there it was with servants at the door. He wanted a Cadillac, and it appeared, complete with chauffeur. He was elated at the beginning, but it soon began to pall on him. He said to an attendant, I want to get out of this. I want to create something, I want to suffer something. I would rather be in hell than here. And the attendant answered, Where do you think you are? That is exactly where our contemporary society isin a hell of materialism, trying to satisfy the human heart with things that can never bring lasting happiness and enjoyment. Am I advocating that having nice things is a sin? Am I saying that God wants us to live as paupers? Am I discounting the many scriptures that promise Gods blessings on His people? No, not at all. Gods covenants to His people are covenants of blessing, but without the torments that are associated with mans greed and selfishness. The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

(Pro 10:22 KJV) Lets look at three key words in this verse from proverbs. First of all, blessing. Blessing in Hebrew means prosperity, the liberal pool of supply. Secondly, rich. Its Hebrew meaning has to do with accumulation, to grow into wealth. There seems to be the element of process involved. And thirdly, sorrow, which means here painful toil and grievous labor of body or mind. So we can say that the liberal pool of Gods supply brings one into accumulation by a process that is free from trouble and grief. Solomon was a wise man. God gave him much wisdom because he asked for it. In his consideration of his estate, Solomon came to the conclusion that wisdom dictates: Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecc 2:11 KJV) Solomon had not found what he was looking for by having it all and doing it all. He found, like Martin Luther, that the empire of the whole world is but a crust to be thrown to a dog. This conclusion of Solomon in Ecclesiastes is supported by the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24-34: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Mat 6:24-34 KJV) Jesus shows us the difference between searching after the temporal and seeking after the eternal. Food, clothing, and things, as essential necessities as they are, are depicted by Jesus as the natural outcome of seeking the kingdom of God first. To be care-ful, full of care, or anxious about anything places it as foremost in our minds and in conflict to where our full care should lie; seeking first the kingdom of God. Now the above passage is not saying that we should not consider such things as food, shelter, clothing, etc. What it is saying is do not let the accumulation or care of those things eclipse Gods purposes in our lives and put us in bondage to things or the upkeep of them. Remember, He blesses without the torment that goes along with focusing on our plan of accumulation, outside of Gods wisdom. Consider for a moment the thousands of man hours that Solomon spent on accumulating and maintaining what he had made. The overhead of his household would have been astronomical. The mental torment of managing it all must have weighed on him considerably. Do we not see in our modern day, families that are strapped financially because of the excess of their lifestyles? Although one might have the money to make a purchase, maintenance costs are seldom considered and those costs alone oftentimes swamp the boats of family budgets. Again Im not saying we should not have and enjoy nice things, but too often the having takes more than we bargained for and the enjoyment gets lost in the bargain.

To seek something takes our time and energy. If we are to seek the kingdom first, can we dare focus our time and energy disproportionately on those things outside of Gods directed task for us? We can, but we dare not, less we become as Solomon and unsatisfied under the sun. May we have his wisdom in our approach to life and come to ourselves, as the prodigal did. He, too, experimented with wanting and having it all, to a place of ruin. May we repent for our wantonness, come back to our Father with humility of heart, and be satisfied to accept His blessings for us.