"Why Are We Here?"

“What in the World Are We Here For?”

January 22, 2007

“The author: Solomon of Jerusalem, King David’s son, "The Preacher."

In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile. For what does a man get for all his hard work? Generations come and go, but it makes no difference. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full, and the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea . . . everything is unutterably weary and tiresome. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied; no matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new; it has all been done or said before. What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn’t exist long ages ago? We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here.” Eccl 1:1-8 (Living)

Solomon seemed a little discouraged. He was the riches man alive. He was the most powerful man alive. He had hundreds of wives and concubines that fulfilled his every sexual fantasy. He was the world’s wisest man. He probably accomplished more than anyone else of his day. And yet he seems so lost. He seemed to be continually searching for his purpose in life. I think one of his problems was that he did too much thinking. I try not to over do that intellectual stuff. Some things just don’t make sense. You just have to accept it. You’ll go crazy trying to make sense out of stuff. Let me give you some examples of stuff you don’t want to think too hard on.

Does the reverse side also have a reverse side?

Why is the alphabet in that order?

Why is a carrot more orange than an orange?

How come abbreviated is such a long word?

Why are there 5 syllables in the word "monosyllabic"?

Why do scientists call it "re"search when looking for something new?

Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don’t have?

Why are they called apart-ments, when they’re all stuck together?

There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me. But I do know this. We were created for a purpose. Thankfully Solomon came to realize that. He concluded Ecclesiastes with this:

“Here is my final conclusion: fear God and obey his commandments, for this is the entire duty of man.” Eccl 12:13 (Living)

I guess you can boil everything down to that one statement. “Fear God and Obey Him.” “Fear and Obey”. I don’t know about you – but I need a little bit more than that. God makes His will for our lives even more clear. Rick Warren says that we have a purpose for our lives. In fact, there are five purposes. Do you remember what they are?

1. You were planned for God pleasure; you were created to Love God and to know Him

2. You were formed for God’s family; you were created to learn to love others.

3. You were created to become like Christ; you are being transformed into His image

4. You were shaped for serving God. You were created for ministry.

5. You were made for a mission. We have a mission.

Our lives need to have this focus. I remind myself of Colossians 3:1 & 2 throughout the week. To paraphrase, it says we are to have our hearts and minds on heavenly things. I don’t know about you, but so often I focus on worldly things and fleshly things. But the world and the flesh are very temporal – it is very temporary. It is all going to quickly pass away. And we need to always keep in mind what we are here for. The world is to teach us. This life is meant for us to have opportunity to choose between self or God; heaven or hell; life or death. Jesus said,

"But when I, the Messiah, shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left.

"Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ’Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.” Matt 25:31-34 (Living)

“Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ’Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.” Matt 25:41 (Living)