Imagine you had everything your heart desired. Imagine you could do everything you’ve ever dreamed of doing. Imagine you had more money than you knew what to do with and not a single responsibility or obligation of which to attend. Simply put, imagine your life is perfect…or is it? These thoughts must raise another question inside you. They must provoke you to wonder what your life would really be like if you could live like this. Would it really be bliss 24/7? Or is there more to life than just having fun and buying things?
Some people think that if they could just escape their jobs, buy this new thing or that new car, replace their terrible kid with the neighbor’s well-behaved one, improve their spouse’s personality defects, and get that perfect body they’ve always dreamed of, their life would be perfect. I know you’ve thought these things before, but of course, you’d never admit to it. You want to have the perfect life, but at the same time, want everyone to think your life is already perfect. So while you’re striving to get that promotion, working late, and neglecting your friends or family because you believe it will make the difference in your happiness, you fail to see the reality of your efforts: IT IS MEANINGLESS.
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
Why is it meaningless you might ask? A better job means more money, which means more stuff, and more stuff means you can give more to the church and help more people, right? That can’t be meaningless, can it? Well, if your attitude is truly one that is seeking gain in order to give back, that’s one thing. Usually, however, it doesn’t work that way. Most people seek gain because they want more stuff and justify their selfish desires by telling themselves they’ll be able to help more people, too. The reality is that those who don’t give out of what they have now won’t give out of what they have next week or next year. (Okay, back to the point…)
Solomon goes on to call wisdom meaningless, toil and work meaningless, fame and fortune meaningless, and advancement meaningless. For a man who was the wisest to live up to his day, negativity truly permeated his writing. But don’t think that was the purpose or intention of his writing. Let’s look at the glimpses of hope Solomon gives throughout the book of Ecclesiastes.
Life Isn’t Totally Meaningless…
(Side note) Whenever you’re feeling depressed by the condition of your life or saddened by the circumstances around you which may or may not be out of your control and you turn to the Word of God in those times, be sure you don’t open to Ecclesiastes.
Having just finished looking at the meaninglessness of life as written by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, we’re moving towards the glimpses of hope that are given throughout the book. Now that I think about it, “throughout” may have been an exaggeration. Regardless of how often, hope is found in the book; it’s just hard to find. Let’s look at Solomon’s messages of hope that he so sparingly hid inside his writing.
(In order to keep this relatively short, here is a good list of all the hopeful statements: Eccl 2:24-25, 3:12-14, 5:1-7, 5:18-20, 8:15, 9:7-10)
As we come to the end of the book, we are confronted with the final verses, hoping they will bring a happy ending to this wearisome book. Let’s focus on the concluding two verses found in chapter 12 verses 13 and 14:
Solomon writes in verse 13, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter.” After having all of the strength drained from your body as you pushed and endured through the twelve long chapters during which only slight glimmers of hope shone through the repetitive echoes of “meaningless, meaningless,” you finally reach the point where it will all make sense—hopefully. So what does Solomon write to conclude this depressing dissertation? “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” The Wisdom of Solomon can not be matched by anyone this generation or any generation has ever known (except Jesus). So for him to search so extensively for something of meaning and sum it all up in 14 words means you should stop what you’re doing and pay attention. I mean it. Stop and pay attention!
Fear God! Keep his commandments! This is the whole duty of man. Don’t you get it? Nothing in this world has meaning without a life devoted to God. Anything you do, anywhere you go, anything you buy, anyone you seek to have a relationship with—all of it will end up as a meaningless waste of time without God guiding it, leading it, and holding it each step of the way. Until you realize the full extent to which God should be and needs to be involved in your life, you are living a meaningless existence. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to the man whom God blessed with so much wisdom people still refer to him as, “The wisest man to ever live” (1 Kings 3:12).
The only meaningless days in life are the ones without God. Now it’s your job to make sure he has the lead role in each and every one.
