Reading Assignment:\u00a0Ecclesiastes 2:1-11<\/p>\n
Many people believe that pleasure is what life is all about. A famous beer commercial tells its listeners to “Go for the gusto.” Solomon tried various different ways to bring pleasure to himself. Though some of the ways could destroy a person’s mind, Solomon stated that through it all, he managed to keep his wisdom.<\/p>\n
The first thing that Solomon tried was mirth. We would call it silliness today. Mirth is when you make a joke out of everything you come across. In a sense, Solomon became the town fool or the local joker. Solomon’s conclusion was that all he got from it was a lot of happy noise. There was no substance to it. Once you stopped being silly, it was gone. There was no change, no improvement, no value to living as a fool.<\/p>\n
Next, Solomon tried wine. For this discussion, I think we can include all mind-altering chemicals. Alcohol and other drugs are physical ways of forcing pleasure. However, it is a deceptive pleasure (Proverbs 20:1). You think you are having fun, but it is with things that would not be fun at all if you were sober. Alcohol and drugs cause errors in judgment (Isaiah 28:1-3,7,8; Proverbs 31:4-7). Under the influence of a drug, you make mistakes and never realize the error. Drugs also lower your moral standards (Habakkuk 2:15; Genesis 9:20-23). Drugs are poison, not only physically, but also spiritually (Proverbs 23:29-35).<\/p>\n
Then Solomon turned to work (I Kings 7:1-12). Working brings two types of pleasure: the pleasure of doing something with our own hands and the pleasure of the plush life that it allows us to lead. Our society is plagued with people we joking refer to as “workaholics,” people who are seemingly addicted to working. In our society, we do not work for our necessities, but for our desires (Luke 12:13-34). This is not to say that all work is bad, but work is not an end to itself (Ephesians 4:28; I Thessalonians 4:11-12, II Thessalonians 3:10).<\/p>\n
Many people desire the “good life,” and Solomon tried this as well. He gathered to himself servants, vast herds, and enormous wealth. Solomon had the ultimate “good life.” He even wrapped himself up in music. Young people in every generation find music an appealing form of pleasure and Solomon sampled this as well.<\/p>\n
However, when all was said and done, Solomon made these observations:<\/p>\n
Pleasures Reading Assignment:\u00a0Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 Did you understand what you read? In relation to his stated purpose, why does Solomon try pleasure? What are the different methods of pleasure that Solomon tries? What is the general conclusion about having pleasure as a person’s goal in life? Drinking is one of the things that Solomon tries. What…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":13496,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14392","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4532,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-greatest-love-song-written-a-study-of-the-song-of-solomon\/an-introduction-to-the-song-of-solomon\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":0},"title":"An Introduction to the Song of Solomon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Song of Solomon The time between finding the perfect husband and the day of your marriage can seem like an eternity. It feels as if you are conscious of the passing of every second. Yet at the same time, there is so much that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26613,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/proverbs-practical-advice-on-life\/the-seductive-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":1},"title":"The Seductive Path","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seductive Path Text: Proverbs 5 Preserving Discretion Proverbs 5:1-2 There is a third path that must be considered in addition to the upright path and the path of the wicked. Thus, Solomon once again tells us to pay attention so that we might see how to make good choices\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Wormwood-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/david-and-his-psalms\/davids-last-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":2},"title":"David’s Last Days","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Lesson 10 David's Last Days Chronology Summary A Successor Selected (I Kings 1) Adonijah, Solomon's power-thirsty half-brother, desired the throne. Adonijah figured that his ambition was applauded by his father since David had not spoken against him. Adonijah prepared his forces to take the throne of David. Joab and Abiathar,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22537,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-song-of-solomon\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":3},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Song of Solomon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Song of Solomon Text: Proverbs 1:1-7 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Song of Solomon is the last in the collection of wisdom literature \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Job teaches us how to suffer, Psalms teaches us how to pray, Proverbs teaches us how to act, Ecclesiastes teaches us how to enjoy life,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4580,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-greatest-love-song-written-a-study-of-the-song-of-solomon\/mature-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":4},"title":"Mature Love","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 12 Mature Love Time continues to advance and our lovers have matured. Once again we are shown a scene from their life when they are having intercourse. 7\u00a01\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHow beautiful are your feet in sandals, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0O prince\u2019s daughter! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The curves of your hips are like jewels, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The work of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/carmelmountain.gif.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4536,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-greatest-love-song-written-a-study-of-the-song-of-solomon\/a-country-girl-in-king-solomons-court\/","url_meta":{"origin":14392,"position":5},"title":"A Country Girl in King Solomon’s Court","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 2 A Country Girl in King Solomon's Court \u00a0 The Song of Solomon is a play that can be viewed as a series of portraits. These paintings are brushed with the dialog of the characters instead of pigments. Our opening scene is the arrival of a young woman. 2\"May\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/vineyard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14392\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}