Meaningless?

The older I get and death becomes more of a reality, I lapse into more moments of thinking that life is as meaningless as Solomon would imply. Why all the years of toil, if it is to be gone in a second? Even if you have something to leave your offspring, how long will it last them? Do they follow in the way that they should go so that all that they say and thing and do will glorify God? Will their inheritance be wasted away on trivial stuff - fleeting moments of pleasure rather than those things that will bring real joy (that is glorifying God)?

 This toiling after riches is meaningless.

"Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.

This too is meaningless.

As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toilthat they can carry in their hands.  (Eccl 5:10 - 15 NIV) 

That is not to say that work is evil. We should work if we expect to eat. But, it becomes very bothersome, even a burden, when one works only to amass riches. Jesus told this story to a crowd who followed to listen to Him: 

 “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

  "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

  “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:17-21

Our work should bring joy to us as well as to others. Live life! Enjoy the life that God has given you! Whether it is in the hours you spend laboring or during the hours you are relaxing with your friends and family, life here on earth is to be lived and enjoyed. Life, abundant life, is a gift from God.

"This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart." (Eccl 1:18-20).

Focus your journey here on earth, not on amassing wealth or power to the exploit of others, but on living life so that God may be glorified in all that you think and say and do.

And... may the peace and joy that is found in being in relationship with God, our Father and with one another, through His Son, Jesus the Christ, be with you always. 

God's Peace

Pr. J

Ecclesiastes 12 - Remember Your Creator; The Conclusion Of The Matter

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”" (Eccl 12:1 NIV)

I cannot begin to count the times that I have heard that "religion" is for old people. I haven't quite figured out why anyone would think you have to be old to be in a relationship. That is what Christianity is all about, after all. It is about being in a relationship - being in a relationship with with God our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Reconciler. We have, through the blood of Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, been reconciled to God our Creator and to one another.

And... then there are those who are in their 40's and 50's (we're not quite young, anymore) who tell me that when they retire they will have more time for God. That's interesting. What makes them so sure they're going to live to retirement age? And... if they do live that long, they will have lived many years wasted as they chose not to live in God's eternal presence in the days of their youth. How meaningless is that - to choose to live without God's presence in this world? How meaningless is that - to wait 'till one is old to be in relationship with One who loves who so much? Live life in relationship now - before the opportunity is gone. Who knows when God will decide that the silver cord is to be broken, that it is time to return to the dust? 

Remember the parable of the man who decided to build barns to store his great wealth?  

   "Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
   And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
   “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
    “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
    “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:15-21)

Solomon reminds us: "Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!""  (Eccl 12:6-8)

Today we read the last chapter of the wisdom of Solomon from Ecclesiastes. Solomon's summation advises us to fear God - remember who He is - He is God. 

"The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."  (Eccl 12:11-14)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Ecclesiastes 5 - The Meaninglessness Of The Love Of Money

The older I get and death becomes more of a reality, I lapse into more moments of thinking that life is as meaningless as Solomon would imply. Why all the years of toil, if it is to be gone in a second? Even if you have something to leave your offspring, how long will it last them? Do they follow in the way that they should go so that all that they say and thing and do will glorify God? Will their inheritance be wasted away on trivial stuff - fleeting moments of pleasure rather than those things that will bring real joy (that is glorifying God)? Will they appreciate all the years that you spent earning and saving it for them?

This toiling after riches is meaningless.

"Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.
As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toilthat they can carry in their hands.  (Eccl 5:10 - 15 NIV) 

That is not to say work is evil. We should work if we expect to eat. But, it becomes very bothersome, even a burden, when one works only to amass riches. Jesus told this story to a crowd who followed to listen to Him: 
 “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
  "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
  “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:17-21

Our work should bring joy to us as well as to others. Live life! Enjoy the life that God has given you! Whether it is in the hours you spend laboring or during the hours you are relaxing with your friends and family, life here on earth is to be lived and enjoyed. Life, abundant life, is a gift from God.

"This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart." (Eccl 1:18-20).

Focus your journey here on earth, not on amassing wealth or power to the exploit of others, but on living life so that God may be glorified.

And... may the peace and joy that is found in being in relationship with God, our Father and with one another, through His Son, Jesus the Christ, be with you always.  Pr. J

Ecclesiastes 2 - Everything Is Meaningless

It's sounding like Solomon feels like a lot of people in the U.S. today. He's not pleased with the prospect of having his wealth being redistributed. But, Solomon is concerned with having it redistributed after he dies. People today are concerned that they will have to work hard and have the government redistribute the fruits of their hands to others while they still live.

Our politicians come up with such grand plans to save the country, to save the world. But, it appears to me that these great plans are nothing more than attempts to please themselves and the lobbyists, to please egos, not God. And, when the planning is over and we are through planning and try to implement so many of these great plans we see that "everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." (Prov 1:11b NIV)

Everything is meaningless. In the pursuit of wealth, there will be no joy. There will be no happiness. There will only be much hard labor, with the end result being that we die. We will leave this earth and we will leave all our things to another.  But, the wisdom of Solomon tells us that even though the same fate takes us all "wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness. (2:13b-14a)

In the end Solomon finds that enjoyment can only come from the hand of God. He writes: "A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.  (Prov 1:24-26)

May God bless you with peace of heart and mind as you pursue the plans He has for you. Pr. J

Ecclesiates 1 - Life Is Meaninless Without Love

Although there are those who would refute attributing Ecclesiastes to the writing of Solomon, the contents indicate that he was. For my part, I will proceed with the understanding that Solomon indeed wrote Ecclesiastes. After all, who would be the wise king, son of David, king in Jerusalem if it were not Solomon?  

"The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem." (Eccl 1:1 NIV)

"I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens." (Eccl 12, 13)

 

Solomon's search for knowledge and wisdom, brought him not an enlightenment that would satisfy, but depression. Solomon finds instead that everything under the sun, is meaningless. "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (Eccl 1:18)

 

One of my mother's favorite sayings for when one of us kids did something stupid was: "No brains, no pains." Then she'd leave it at that. I'm not sure if that's the most appropriate thing to tell a child. But, we got the point. With wisdom and knowledge comes many opportunities; but, with opportunities comes many challenges and often some trying times. My mother's view was that accepting the opportunities and challenges that come with gaining wisdom and knowledge was worth the bit of hardship one might have to endure.

 

Solomon, on the other hand, who was wiser than any other man, has found that his seeking knowledge was meaningless in the end. In the end, every living thing under the sun dies. As we read through Ecclesiastes, I hope that we will come to the understanding that not everything is futile. But, that it is possible to strive for greater knowledge and wisdom, even while we enjoy the fruits of this life that God has given us. We are to live life, not just bury ourselves in seeking after knowledge. Books are good, but life is still to be enjoyed.

 

Another thing to remember about Solomon is that as he decided to marry foreign wives, he also decided to worship their gods, as well. This is not good. Worshipping false gods is utterly meaningless and a source of the emptiness that many feel. Solomon, I fear, lived a life as a seeker. He was seeking meaning for his life. It was a life devoid of real relationships founded on a relationship with the one true God, who gifted him with much wisdom. His life probably lacked love. After all, how lonely is the man who would need to have 700 wives and 300 concubines? I believe he was one who may have had wisdom, but not real relationships. Not with God and consequently not with the people around him. So we have a man, who has found that his pursuit of wisdom and knowledge was meaningless. He never really lived life.

 

May God grant you a greater relationship with Him and with those around you that you may live life more fully.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J