“Now the weight of gold which came into Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that from the traders and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the country.” (1 Kings 10:14-15)
Annually, Solomon received over 1.5 billion dollars worth of gold… at a minimum, somewhere in the vicinity of 22 tons. It is a staggering amount of wealth. That kind of money would make it possible for him to perform a grand experiment and answer an alluring question: “If you had a seemingly infinite amount of money, could you buy happiness?”
Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s research paper on what money can buy. The answer?
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
The temptation for those of us without an endless supply of wealth is to believe that more money would improve us, but Solomon learned the truth. Money cannot feed what the heart yearns for. You need God, and no amount of gold can replace Him.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites
This Week’s Reading: 1 Kings 9-14; Psalm 37; Proverbs 6 This year, #Biblebites are looking at lessons from the history of the Old Testament. Each week reads a section of history with a Psalm to meditate on and a dash of Proverbs to dwell upon. If you would like a copy of the reading schedule, you can view it here: https://eastlandchristians.org/news-events/2024-vision