The Meaning of Life

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Treasuring Christ :: Year 2: The Prophets and Writings

Connecting Church and Home Quarter 3, Week 10 :: The Meaning of Life Treasure Story: Ecclesiastes 2 Imagine for a moment that you are the richest person in the world. How would you spend your wealth? Most people could at least come up with a quick list of things they would buy if they had unlimited wealth. King Solomon was a wealthy man in his time; in fact, he was one of the richest men who ever lived. He tasted the finer things in life with his wealth, but all of that did not bring him everlasting pleasure. In the end, he declared that all the world had to offer was vanity.

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“I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world, and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources.” - C. S. Lewis

We all have a desire for pleasure and to cheer our hearts. We may seek this pleasure in the form of friendships, drink, food, money or all that money can bring. Ecclesiastes 3:11 states that God has put eternity into man’s heart—we all desire to be in relationship with our Creator but instead we place value on the created. Jesus came to fulfill our desires if only we put our trust in him. Only Jesus can fulfill the desire and fulfillment that we desire. Here are a few suggestions to help remind you that God is the greatest need of our hearts: • Need or Contentment: We must constantly teach our kids to be thankful for the things they have. There are times when we need things, but many times the things that we think are needs are wants only masquerading as needs. When opportunities present themselves at the mall or local retail store, teach your kids what it means to be content with what they have. Teach them what it means to need things (food, water, toiletries) and what it means to want (toys and games). • Give It Away: Teach your children what it means to give. Have them find a toy that they don’t play with anymore and donate it. You could even go further and as a family collect spare change in a jar and bless another family with the change you accrue with a restaurant gift certificate. Help you children understand that they can’t take their possessions with them when they die. God wants us to hold loosely to the things of this world.

My Mission As Parent

• Most often our children learn from us in how we respond to our wants versus our needs. Do they see us striving and seeking our wants, or do they see us being content with what we have? When they see that we covet things that are not needed, they pick up on those desires. Ask God to help you curb your desires for things that are created and seek him to fulfill your heart. • Help your children to understand what it means to serve others. An example could be that when your children receive a new toy they must donate an old toy. There are many children in the world who have nothing. This is a great way to teach our children to not hoard up treasures of this world.

Prayer Points

• Pray that God would take away our desires for created things and help us to have more of a desire to worship him. • Pray that we would be good stewards of what God has given us. Help us to understand that we deserve nothing in this world but God chooses to bless us anyway. • Praise God for sending Jesus. Ask him to help us remember that our desires can only be fulfilled in and through him. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © Providence Baptist Church, 2014. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for reproduction only for the study of Life Bible Study curriculum by a licensed church during the licensed year. No online or other duplication is permitted