The main focus of today's discussion is the real purpose of life, which is not centered around pleasure. I draw from my devotional book "In Dying We Are Reborn" as we explore Lenten practices that remind us of this truth. Using insights from Fulton J. Sheen, I emphasize that true joy comes from pleasing God rather than seeking temporary satisfaction. I reflect on the life of King Solomon, who, despite his wealth and power, found his pursuits ultimately meaningless when they were solely focused on pleasure. This podcast encourages listeners to reconsider their priorities during this Lenten season and to explore what it means to live a life that truly honors God.

Takeaways:

1. The purpose of life is often misconceived as the pursuit of pleasure, which can lead to emptiness.
2. Fulton J. Sheen's quote reminds us that life should focus on pleasing God rather than seeking personal enjoyment.
3. We should reflect during Lent on how to realign our priorities towards meaningful contributions to others.
4. Solomon's life exemplifies the dangers of pursuing pleasure at the cost of one's moral compass and faith.
5. True joy comes from a relationship with God, not from fulfilling a list of personal desires or experiences.
6. We can find deeper fulfillment by asking ourselves what brings joy to God rather than what pleases ourselves.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. bible805.com

Hi, welcome to the Hobo Soul podcast of road advice from the Bible and from me, Yvon Prehn, someone who's a little further down the road of life. I'll talk to you every weekday for about five to 10 minutes, with periodic longer talks on serious Saturdays. Let's get started with our topic today,

Lenten Devotion Day Number 7, The Real Purpose of Life.

During this Lenten season, we're looking at the quotes and challenges from my devotional book and journal In Dying We Are Reborn, that you can download for free on www.bible805.com. Each day there is a daily quote and challenge from the book, which I'll read to you and I'll then share my comments on them.

Today's quote comes from Fulton J. Sheen, where he says

"Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are a good reminder that the purpose of life is not pleasure."

Here's my challenge from it.

That the purpose of life is not pleasure would be a big surprise to many.

But to the Christian, the greater emotion of joy is the reward when the purpose of our life is to please God.

Now let me talk about this a little bit more.

This is a truly revolutionary idea to many, that the purpose of life is not to pack in every enjoyable experience, exotic travel, and extravagant possession into life that's possible. Our world, though, celebrates vision boards packed with cars and trips, homes and vacations, exotic food and drink.

As we get older, we're not told to work and focus on building a legacy of significant benefit to others, but on making sure that we fulfill our bucket list. And though we might make fun of it, many still believe the bumper sticker that said, "he who has the most toys wins."

When I think about those things, my first thought is always, how sad. How terribly sad.

And my purpose in this podcast isn't to make you feel guilty if any of the previously mentioned phrases describe your life, but to let you know that there's so much more to life, so much more to be gained in a joy that is rich and deep and lasting when our goal is to please God.

Now, you don't need to take my word for it.

There's an entire book of the Bible that underscores the falseness and the real insanity of pursuing just a life of pleasure. That's the book of Ecclesiastes.

If you're not familiar with it, it was written by King Solomon, the son of David, when he was an old man and looking back on his life, his conclusion was

"Meaningless. Meaningless, utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless"

It didn't have to be that way for him, and it certainly doesn't have to be that way for us. Let's look at his life briefly, though, to see why and how he came to that conclusion. He started out with every possible advantage.

He was king at a time when kingship meant you could do whatever you wanted to do. He was the wisest man in the world given the gift of wisdom by God. When God had told him when he was young, ask for whatever he wanted, he asked for wisdom. God gave it to him. With his wisdom and the power of kingship, he amassed extraordinary wealth.

But somewhere along the way, somehow, with a gift of so much, he lost his moral compass.

Instead of looking to the God who had given him everything, he turned his attention to, as he tells us in the book, throwing himself first into great projects, building and planting.

And though all of these sorts of things are not bad in themselves, it seems that he did them to simply see if he could and how they would make him feel. It wasn't enough.

So with great energy, with all the money and resources available to him, he threw himself into every imaginable pleasure in food and drink, and above all, in sex. Though most of us find one relationship enough of a challenge to keep us busy, the Bible tells us he had 1,000 of them, 700 wives and 300 concubines. Sometimes when I'm feeling cynical, I wonder if he even remembered all their names and how often did he see each one and did he have a favorite.

And I mean, it's just, it's just sad and it's sick.

And in many ways, other than just the realistic reality of it, the ugliness of it, this was the saddest indulgence of all and the most destructive.

Because in 1st Kings 11 it says, "For it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Astorah, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites.

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerus, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods."

It's worth noting what the text does not make explicit here, because everyone at the time knew exactly what was going on, and that is that the worship of Molech involved burning children alive,as a sacrifice. Solomon participated in that. That was the end result of his pursuit of pleasure.

God was understandably, greatly displeased with his life, and his kingdom was permanently severed, cut in two, often at war for the rest of its time because of his selfish pursuit of pleasure.

Harsh ending, harsh conclusions, but true as our opening quote challenged us, no matter what the encouragements and pleasure marketing of our world, we can use this time of Lent to stop and consider and perhaps reorient the direction and focus of our lives instead of a primary focus on pleasures.

Think about this and we'll talk about this in our podcast tomorrow. A little bit more but what might be our bucket list for God?

What things might we do that will give him joy? How can we spend our time, talent and treasure in pursuing those things?

In closing for this Lenten Devotional, which is a special Hobo Soul series that I'm doing for Lent, I'd encourage you to pause, take time to share with Jesus your response, thoughts and prayers to what you just heard. You can do this quietly in your heart or you can write it out.

I have a free journal with the quotes, challenges and space for you to write in that you can download at www.bible805.com let me close in prayer for you that as Jesus went into the wilderness to solidify his calling, that you, during this time retreat to a place spiritually where God can significantly deepen your relationship with him, where he can speak to you regardless of the timing, temptations and distractions in your life, and that you'll come out of it with a clear sense of his calling for you and a commitment to follow it. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.