Lion Heart ENCOURAGE - Playing the long or short game

Intro:

Hey Man of God! Yes, you are a man, and a man for a time like this. There is one thing for certain, God placed you here and now. The world needs you now, your family needs you now, your friends and community need you now.

How will you respond?

Our circumstances are often out of our control, but our response to these circumstances are within our control. Let’s set our minds on things above and respond to the here and now with eternity in mind.

Encouragement: Glory vs Vapour.

My brothers, you are blessed to be a man. God has given you much responsibility, and much authority. A quick question though, are we playing the long game or the short game? 

Today I’d like to encourage us to pursue things of substance.'

As men, we have a heightened sense of purpose and ambition. These attributes are Godly, they are not for naught, so don’t feel guilty that you are ambition. However, it needs to be tempered and guided by the Word of God.

Ambition without boundaries, or without guidance, is just a rocket without rudders. Dangerous!

So today I’d like to provide a checkpoint for us my brothers. Is what you do, and how you do it, have eternal perspective? And as a means to guide us, I’m going to us some inputs from Solomon.

Let’s look at Ecclesiastes. This is somewhat of a philosophical work, I’ve heard from those that have studying philosophy that Ecclesiastes is actually one of the best studies of philosophy. But it is limited. More on that later. It explores the meaning of life and the nature of existence. The purpose of life, concluding that many of the things’ people strive for, such as wealth, power, and pleasure, are ultimately fleeting and unsatisfying. The “Teacher”, Solomon, ultimately advises readers to cultivate a sense of contentment and gratitude, to enjoy the simple things in life, and to fear God.

Back to it’s limitations. The book’s limitations are important to note. It’s like a “Scope of Work” would be in an engineering project. Or a “Scope of Reference” in a study or investigation. It helps us frame what he is talking about. Let’s take a look before I get ahead of myself:

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 NKJV

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?”

Here Solomon starts his philosophical summary of life with an answer to the question: “Vanity”.

Some translations say ‘meaningless’. Really, the answer to ‘everything’ is meaningless!?

The Hebrew word used here is ‘Hebal’, meaning more literally ‘vapour’ or ‘breath’. Something fleeting.

For perspective we need to look at two things: firstly Solomons ‘scope of work’, secondly Solomons accomplishments.

Solomon gives us the scope of his work at the end of v3, ‘under the sun’. Solomons view of ‘everything’ is limited by what is ‘under the sun’. He writes Ecclesiastes without an eternal perspective. He himself has drifted from God, and is not walking in obedience to God, nor in intimate relationship with God. The God of Israel is only a distant figure to Solomon at this stage of his life. And thus we should see that the conclusion that Solomon makes here in the first few verses is that even if you live life to the fullest, it all ends up being empty without God. Meaningless.

Now let’s look at his accomplishments. Solomon accomplished much.

He established a strong and prosperous kingdom, built the Temple in Jerusalem, promoted trade and commerce, establishing relationships with neighbouring countries and engaging in extensive trade networks. He demonstrated wisdom and fairness in his judgments, composing songs, proverbs, and other writings, with the book of Proverbs and the Song of Solomon being attributed to him. He maintained peace and stability throughout his reign, with the exception of a few minor conflicts and he strengthened the military and expanding Israel's borders through strategic alliances and conquests.

Solomon was also one of the richest people to ever live. He accumulated a vast amount of gold, with 666 talents of gold coming into his treasury each year (1 Kings 10:14). Solomon's total wealth has been estimated to be around $2.2 trillion in today's dollars, although this is a rough estimate and should be used with caution

He had a large collection of precious stones, including ivory, apes, and peacocks, which were brought to him through trade with other countries (1 Kings 10:22) A thousand and twenty chariots, with horses imported from Egypt and other countries (1 Kings 10:26, 28-29) A vast array of luxurious items, including fine linens, perfumes, and spices. A large and expensive fleet of ships, which sailed to distant lands, including Tarshish, to bring back gold, silver, and other precious commodities (1 Kings 10:22, 1 Kings 9:26-28). Let me also remind you that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Some might say ‘that’s why he needed all that gold!’ LOL. Just pulling your leg.

So in terms of a ‘worldly’ success rating, I think Solomon leads the pack!'

Solomon continues through the first few chapters of Ecclesiastes to examine different ‘angles’ to life. He examines life through the lens of Knowledge, then Pleasure and lastly Success/Materialism. And after all his deep examination, his conclusion is the same, ‘all is meaningless’.

So let’s just contrast this for a moment, Solomon’s extreme ‘success’ = meaningless, in his own words. And you know, he is right. Anything without God at the centre is meaningless.

Now, I’d like us to turn our attention to the antonym of ‘vanity’, it is ‘Glory’. On opposite ends of the scale of life we have ‘vanity’ on the one end, and Glory on the other.

Have you ever wondered what the word Glory means? I mean it is used many times to describe God, but do we really know what it means.

In the context of God, the word "glory" refers to the manifestation of God's presence, power, and majesty. It encompasses the splendour, radiance, and brilliance of God's being, which is often described as being beyond human comprehension.  God's glory is often associated with Light, Power, Holiness and God’s presence.

In essence, God's glory is the culmination of His attributes, including His power, wisdom, love, and holiness, which are all perfectly balanced and manifested in His being. When we speak of God's glory, we are acknowledging the awe-inspiring majesty and wonder of His presence, which inspires reverence, worship, and praise.

It is something with extreme substance and longevity. Not fleeting and lightweight. But real, solid and lasting.

God’s Kingdom, and God’s way, is just like this. Substantial. Everlasting. Real. Not fading, not corruptible.

Isn’t that just wonderful to contemplate? Isn’t God just wonderful to contemplate?

 So here’s my question: Are you playing the short game or the long game?

Solomon played the short game to the full, and he came up short. Let’s listen and learn. Let’s not think ‘we know better’, ‘we’ll get this right’. This is self-righteousness, an abomination to God.

Let’s rather humble ourselves before God and before each other. Let’s admit that we can’t do this without God, and we don’t want to do this without our brethren. Let’s submit our lives to His way, to His will. Let’s follow hard after God! Let’s do this God’s way. Let’s play the long game.

As David says in Ps 16:8, ‘I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.’

And the learned Paul says in Phil 3:8 ‘Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as dung, that I may gain Christ’

There is nothing more important than living this life, as a man, as a husband, as a father, with Christ as a prime focus. No job, no car, no house, no prize, no bank balance, no position can compare to the supreme Glory and Love of our God.

Bless you!

Prayer Request:

A great big thank you to those that have made donations! We’ll put it to good use.

Journey Group:

The next Journey Group is on the morning of the 10th of May 2025. Upper Level of Cappuccinos, in Woodlands Mall, Pretoria East. Starting at 8:00 through to 9:00 sharp. Please reach out to me if you need more info: info@hopenation.faith

Please fwd this message to those who you think can benefit!

Your Brother in Christ,

Stanley