Ecclesiastes

 Why does no one talk about Ecclesiastes? I don't think I have really ever heard anyone mention it much, as if it's a forgotten book of the bible. But let me tell you, IT IS GOLDEN.

I honestly think this might be my favorite book of the bible. There's so much good stuff in it. 

Let's look at chapters 1 and 2. 

Author of Ecclesiastes: most scholars believe that it was written by Solomon

Well, who is Solomon? Solomon was the 3rd king of Israel, son of King David and Bathsheba. He was famous for being very wise and also very rich.

Chapter 1 starts out telling us that everything is meaningless. In fact, my Bible has a subtitle for chapter 1:1-11 that says "Everything is meaningless". Does this feel odd to see in the bible? It does for me. Because life isn't meaningless to me. I have purpose, I have a reason for being here. This is probably why I was immediately intrigued. 

Maybe you sometimes feel this way? That life is meaningless or that you are going nowhere fast and what is even the point? Well, you are in the right place if that is the case. **Spoiler Alert- God gives us purpose**

verse 9 says "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." 

verses 12-18 have a subtitle of "Wisdom is meaningless" in my Bible. 

This is kind of funny to me because it's Solomon saying it, and he's very wise. So imagine a very rich person telling you that money isn't everything? Hilarious, it's not everything to you because you can easily get your bills paid and don't have to stress over that. HEAR ME OUT. I am not saying that money is everything, I'm simply noting that it's very easy for someone that has plenty of something to act like it is not a big deal.

Back to the topic.....

Verse 18 says "for with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief"

to me, this just means that even when you are wise or when you have lots of life experience, you still can't understand or explain all of life's problems. You will still have questions.

Moving on to chapter 2. "pleasures are meaningless" is the subtitle on verses 1-11. Solomon tested his heart with pleasure in verses 1-3. He mentions laughter, wine, foolishness/folly, but says that pleasure accomplishes nothing.

He tested his heart with good works and building wealth in verses 4-9. He built houses, planted vineyards, bought slaves, owned lots of animals, accumulated silver and gold....everything was still meaningless. 

When I think of all this, all he had and all he did, and how it brought nothing to his life, I think about the joy that I get in my relationship with Jesus. Nothing in life can truly bring you joy like living with him, having the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you. It is a joy beyond all things and until you experience it, you just can't understand it. It's something that you can't really explain, but you can feel it DEEPLY. 

Wisdom and Folly are Meaningless- verses 12-15. Solomon says what good is it to be wise, people forget about wise people after they die, just as they forget about foolish people. So who cares if you are wise or not? Everyone dies, wise or not. 

Why bother to do all these things when I am going to die anyway?

The answer to this is in 1 Corinthians 15:58, which says "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Doing God's work (creating disciples, spreading the gospel, being the church outside of the church building) is what makes life worth living!! He created you with a purpose and that purpose is to GO TELL IT ON A MOUNTAIN. 

Toil is Meaningless- verses 17-26. first off, what does "toil" mean? it means to work extremely hard. I think I might start using this in my every day language from now on. "I'm off to the gym to toil!" :)

verse 21 says "for a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it".....so you are working so hard to build wealth in your life, but when you die, what happens to it? you just pass it on to your kids? and then they don't value it because they didn't work for it. What is the point?

verse 24 says "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?"

and there it is ladies and gentleman. without God, there is nothing.

The lesson in Ecclesiastes is that no one can have a life with meaning unless they find it in God. He is the difference-maker. He makes life worth living, he gives us purpose, and he is the reason for it all.

Encouraging you to go read chapters 1 and 2 today. It won't take you long. and after reading this, you will have somewhat of an understanding on what the chapters are saying. 

Is your life meaningless? Do you find value in living for God? Have you been in the Word today?

Let's eat.