SCRIPTURE: ECCLESIASTES 1
The author of this book is King Solomon. He wrote an analysis of life’s experiences and a narrative essay about life’s meaning. He took a reflective journey through his life explaining how everything being tried, tested were all meaningless, useless, pointless, foolish and empty and in total futility. Solomon was a man with power, intellect and wealth. He came to a final triumphant conclusion of “Fear God and obey His commands; for that is the duty of every person. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (Eccl. 12:13-14)
The book of Ecclesiastes is filled with practical wisdom and spiritual wisdom. He taught us how to accomplish things in the world and stay out of trouble and how to know and find the eternal value. It leads us to seek fulfillment and happiness in God alone. He directed our hopes to our creator who can give our life’s meaning. Solomon affirmed the value of knowledge, relationship, work and pleasure in its proper perspective. We must hear the stern warnings and commit ourselves in obedience to our Lord. Solomon advised us to enjoy life now and be grateful to God’s gift. Every believer must accept life as God’s gift to enjoy and give Him the glory.
MEMORY VERSES:
“Meaningless!, Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new! It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
“There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:11)
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
“For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS (vs. 1-11)
Solomon was convinced that life was meaningless. He look around the nature functioning as it has since creation. He looked back and saw history repeating itself. As he looked within, he found that wisdom and experience cannot explain the mysteries of life or solve life’s problems. So, everything is meaningless.
WISDOM IS MEANINGLESS (vs. 12-18)
Solomon asked wisdom from God. He was the wisest king among all nations. However, despite of all his wisdom and knowledge, he came to this conclusion: “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. (v. 18).
THOUGHTS:
When king Solomon was near the end of his life, he looked back over everything he had done. He had tried everything and achieved much. But he found out that nothing apart from God will make him happy. He wanted his readers to know that we can never be satisfied with our own accomplishments. Everything we pursue will become meaningless without God. His goal was to show that earthly possessions and accomplishments are ultimately meaningless. Only the presence of God brings real satisfaction. Solomon discovered in his own life that neither his accomplishment nor his wisdom could make his feel happy. True wisdom is found in God and true happiness comes rom pleasing him.
There are so many unanswered questions in our lives. The more you understand, the greater your pain and difficulty. The more you know, the more imperfection you see around you. And the more you observe, the more evil becomes evident. To find the meaning of life, be ready to feel more,, think more, question more, hurt more and do more.
There are two kinds of wisdom. (1) – Human knowledge, reasoning or philosophy. (2)- The wisdom that comes from God. Human knowledge cannot provide answers to our problems. Only wisdom from God can give us God’s eternal perspective and solutions.