I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes over the last few days. To be honest it’s been a bit depressing. The author says things like this and this. He constantly retorts that “everything is meaningless”. Wow, that’s a pick me up! Here is a man in the last days of his life reflecting on what he’s achieved. As he glances in the rear-view mirror of his life, he discovers that much of his time (if not all of it) was spent on things that really had no significance. He speaks of gaining wisdom but increasing sorrow. He speaks of countless wind chasing (Ecc. 2:17). He’s frustrated because he knows that all he’s worked so hard to accomplish will be of no use to him in death, only scraps to be snatched up by the ones to follow (Ecc. 2:18).
So what are we supposed to learn from this? As depressing as it is, I think we all feel or have felt the same way. We’ve all wondered why we do what we do. We’ve all worked tirelessly on things that have gone unnoticed and unappreciated. So many of us spend sixty hours a week killing ourselves to make money that will be erased by bills just minutes after it is deposited into our bank accounts. But does it have to be this way? Do our lives have to be so pointless?
Heck no! The problem isn’t that are not meaningful ways to spend our time. The problem is we chose meaninglessness (pretty sure I just made up that word). We get bogged down in the temporary. We lack vision. We need to force ourselves to see beyond the here and now. A passionate pursuit of the things of God will bring the fulfillment we are searching for. Serving Him and His people will invigorate our lives.
