HEBREW WORD STUDY – EMPOWERED TO ENJOY – SHALAT שׁלט

Ecclesiastes 5:19: “Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth and hath given power to eat thereof and to take his portion and to rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God.”

God may allow his servant to succeed when he has disciplined him to the point where he does not need to succeed to be happy.” A.W. Tozer

Next week I am taking a Jewish friend to Skokie, Illinois so he can do some shopping in a Kosher grocery store and while he is shopping I plan to have lunch at a Jewish Bristo called Shalat. I thought that was an interesting word for a restaurant and I figured it would make a good word study for today.

There is an old saying, “Money cannot buy happiness.” This is true in many cases unless God gives one the gift of shalat. Shalat is the empowerment to enjoy something. According to Solomon God has to empower you to enjoy your wealth and/or good fortune. 75% of the winners of the big lottery are bankrupt in five years. 70% say after the euphoria of winning wears off they are no happier than before they won the lottery and 21% say they are less happy and wish they never won. The wealthy 1% say it is not their wealth that they enjoy it is the game they play to obtain it. Solomon the richest man to ever live said his wealth was a vanity – haval which means an illusion.

You can dream of winning the lotto but unless God gives you the gift of shalat, the power to enjoy it, it may not satisfy you if you win. Oh yeah, that restaurant named Shalat? As I said at the beginning it is a very intriguing name because it is telling you that the food that is served, God will empower you