”Everything is meaningless, completely meaningless! What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.” We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing.” Ecclesiastes 1: 2-4, 11
Solomon sounds pretty pessimistic and skeptical to me. He had everything (wisdom, power, wealth, honor, fame), yet he is telling us all about the emptiness he feels inside. Solomon wrote this book after he had tried everything and achieved much, only to find that nothing apart from God made him happy. But again, Solomon wanted his readers to avoid these same, senseless pursuits. If we base our identity on our accomplishments and material things, we’ll never be satisfied…all of our pursuits will be meaningless.
“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?”…words of Jesus in Matthew 16:26
When King Solomon wrote this book, Israel was flourishing; you can say they were in a “golden age” of prosperity. Solomon wanted the people to understand that prosperity and success don’t last very long. Many people feel restless and dissatisfied, wondering (1) What is the meaning of my life? (2) Why do I feel burned out and disillusioned, and dry? (3) What is to become of me? My future?
If you take a long, hard look at your life…Can you see how important serving God is above all else? Think long and hard about this…Could it be possible that God, through the book of Ecclesiastes, is asking you to rethink your purpose and direction in life, just like He did with Solomon?
There is much wisdom found in Ecclesiastes. I’ll try to break up each chapter for you. Maybe you can read along with me? At the end of Chapter one, Solomon talks about human knowledge… when our knowledge ignores God, it only highlights our problems… we need God’s wisdom to provide the right answers.
“I said to myself, ‘Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them. So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.” Ecclesiastes 1: 16-18
As you set out to find the meaning of life, you must be ready to feel more, think more, and question more.