Gods at War Student Edition by Kyle Idleman

Author:Kyle Idleman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

And Now the Good News

Okay, I feel the need to push the pause button at this point, because I fear that this may all sound a little legalistic. I’m not trying to construct a tower of rules or say that entertainment is evil. Far from it. Like sex, entertainment is a gift from God — something that can be good until we turn it into a god.

After all, how can you not be entertained by God’s creation? How can we avoid the conclusion that he entertained himself by putting together the world, the stars, and the galaxies? How do you think he intends us to respond to a rainbow or a mountain range or a seashore? He didn’t just give us a bare, functional place to live. He gave us a planet of wonders.

And what did he expect people to do on that seventh day of rest that he commanded? We can’t sleep for twenty-four hours. Entertainment can be a place of rest for our minds and emotions. Why else do people in every human culture have the ability to laugh and be amused?

He is a God of joy, and he wants us to know that joy. He “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17).

And think of Jesus, who taught through stories and amusing snippets of life. The story of the prodigal son is often considered the greatest short story ever told. His parables were powerful for teaching because they were powerfully entertaining.

What’s the problem with entertainment, then?

Solomon, one of the greatest figures of the Old Testament, found the answer to that question. He pursued entertainment relentlessly, looking for pleasure.

He chased after it as hard as he could. Solomon was the king of Israel, the son of King David. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes is basically the journal he kept while he pursued pleasure. In one of his early entries he writes, “I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good’ ” (Ecclesiastes 2:1).

Solomon has incredible wealth and power, and he spares no expense in trying to entertain himself. He begins with laughter. He tunes into the comedy channel and hires the Jim Gaffigan of his day as a court jester. But he soon concludes that it’s meaningless. There’s no lasting joy in it.

He tries the life of partying, but sees the emptiness of it quickly. He entertains himself by taking on great projects. He builds houses, plants vineyards, and creates parks. He is a man of many interests, trying to find which, if any, will fill the void in his soul.

He has all the luxuries that vast wealth can afford. He has servants, butlers, maids, chauffeurs, massage therapists, personal shoppers, and even ongoing live entertainment. Ecclesiastes 2:8 tells us that he brought in a choir of men and women — and of course, a harem.

Most people have heard about the harem. The Bible says he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. There are women from every nation, food from every culture, books of wisdom from every civilization.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.