Sometime in 2018, a Danish man was accused of killing his wife and daughter in their Banana Island home in Lagos, Nigeria. Only last November, a leading musician lost his son on the same Island. The 3-year-old drowned in the family swimming pool. Arguably, Banana Island is the costliest piece of real estate in Nigeria. If living there translates to peace, happiness, and security, such disasters would never happen. An average person has the idea that if he becomes successful and lives in some choice location in a city, he will be a happy man. This mindset is a seduction and a mirage

“Any theology that promises fulfillment based on earthly success alone is deceptive.”

Solomon was a social scientist who carried out a lot of experiments. His goal was to find out the central thing that man should pursue in life. He had a bent for pleasure and had a fill of it. He acquired anything he saw, ate and drank, married multiple women and tried every imaginable whim. In the end, he concluded all to be vanity. No matter how great our success is, it can never fill the vacuum in the heart. Only God can fill that void and bring lasting satisfaction. This was the theme of Saint Augustine’s life when he said: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” Any theology that promises fulfillment based on earthly success alone is deceptive.