Ecclesiastes 1:1-9
Finding Life’s Meaning
Ecclesiastes is one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible and it’s too bad because Ecclesiastes is a divinely inspired meditation on one of the most profound questions asked by man: “What is the meaning of Life?”
Q. What is the meaning of life? What does life mean to you and me? What is important and satisfying to you?
King Solomon was vexed with the 3 P’s: Power, Possessions, and Pleasure.
Too many people have not stopped to consider the meaning of life. They look back years later and wonder, “Where did my life go?” “Why didn’t my relationships work and why do I feel empty inside?’
Illustration: One baseball player who made it to the hall of fame was asked what he wished someone would have told him when he first started playing baseball, he relied, ”I wish someone had told me that when you get to the top, …there’s nothing there!”
Q. What are some things we pursue to find purpose? Success? Wealth? Relationships? Sex?, Entertainment? Credit? Pleasure? …And there is still emptiness …there is still a void. There is still in our hearts a God-shaped void that can only be filled by God.
As we read scripture from Ecclesiastes and we hear how “Meaningless” life is according to Solomon’s musings, we begin to realize that the problems that we and Solomon are up against have developed because we are living life as though all there is to life is what we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses. (Hence-the void)
God created us for something beyond the physical, and beyond the here and now.
Solomon said of God, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” (In our hearts we know that this is not all there is).
See Genesis1:26, 27. This means that we are more like God than anything else.
Through our conscience we know right from wrong. But with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do right and stop doing wrong.
Apart from Christ, all is vanity. Because of Jesus we are justified. (Not guilty in God’s eyes because we are covered by the blood of Christ) Just/if/ied – never sinned! Praise God.
R. Neal Gracey, Deacon (Ordained) FBC Saltillo, PA
