See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
Are you ever surprised by the elaborate plots of individuals or civilizations to ‘gain the upper hand’ over others? What does it take to motivate someone to use others for their personal gain while destroying those being used? Ponzi schemes, internet scams, tax fraud, human trafficking are just the most obvious.
Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes from the perspective of the wisest man to ever live and as you read through Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and this book, you find a broad scope of understanding. Yet in Ecclesiastes, much is categorized as ‘vanity’ and ‘chasing after the wind’. How does he come to this conclusion in so many fields of study?
When Solomon was being made King, part of his prayer to God was for wisdom to be able to lead well in righteousness, pleasing God, and this was granted. He began well but as he settles into ruling the nation, he accepts the wisdom of the age, takes dozens of wives and hundreds of concubines as alliances with other nations. He allowed the entry of other gods into the royal harems and over time his focus upon the Lᴏʀᴅ dilutes.
Are we tempted to begin in Jesus, experience the joys of the Lᴏʀᴅ but then eventually dwindle away our focus upon God and live in the distractions of schemes giving promise of fulfillment not close to God?
How far can we drift from God before we recognize our loss of intimacy with Him? Let’s stay nearest to God alone.