Ecclesiastes Chapter Two... A divided heart

4    I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

We need to understand what Solomon meant by “Great works”. As we seek to understand this we will discover something about this king; we will discover he was not a “Kingdom first” king. He was not all about the building and promoting of the Lord’s kingdom. He was an industrious king full of ambition and ideas for sure but he is not using his talents to build God’s kingdom or securing a godly line for future generations; he is using his energy and talents to build his own kingdom.

I am sure that the Lord would have much more preferred a king who sought Him with a whole heart and one who would use his God given worldwide influence to produce a righteous kingdom and lay a foundation for future generations; one that would have been an example to the rest of the world. Solomon exceeded all the kings before or after him (in terms of worldwide power and influence) but he did not walk a single eyed temperate life governed by the fear of the Lord. His divided heart is evidenced for us through these so called “Great works”. In 1 Kings 6:37-35 we learn one of his “Great works” was building the house of the Lord. Solomon spent seven years in building this magnificent structure, seemingly a notable task. However, it pails when we read 1 Kings 7:1 that he spent 13 years building his own house. Obviously to this ambitious king his own house was the real “Great work”.

Do you think it hard of me to conclude that because Solomon spent twice as much time building his own house than he did the house of the Lord that he was divided in his commitment? Then consider men and women today; how many are spending more time and labor today building their homes and buying their cars and acquiring their toys (boats, trophies, TV’s, sports, computers, stereo’s etc…) then they are in their service to the Lord. Take a good look at their spiritual lives, are they really people who you would consider men and women committed to their call (5 fold ministry or ministry of helps it does not matter)? Are they men and women who would drop what they are pursuing and lovingly obey the Masters call, are they the ones who don the prayer meetings or heed the mission call? No, I think you like me conclude they are not. Solomon too fell into this category of the half hearted but it was more pronounced because he was the king.

Herein lies one of the great problems in the life of king Solomon (and many today); he was more interested in his own “Great works” than in the “Great works” of the Lord (developing God’s kingdom and God’s house). We find that there is a very weak commitment in him. This example of Solomon is a warning for us, a warning to keep our own priorities straight. We want to be a “Kingdom first” Christian, one whose main goal is to walk in the fear of the Lord and to build His house and build His kingdom and to secure a godly influence for generations to come. We have seen good men and women get caught up in meaningless time-consuming projects while they carelessly let their spiritual life dwindle away to nothing. Let us be warned from the lessons of this ambitious yet poor king.