Life with Meaning

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, 17 – “I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?" I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine--my heart still guiding me with wisdom--and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun…So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

Here Solomon reveals to us that as King of Israel, there was nothing that he kept from his desires. Pleasure, popularity, fame, fortune, sex, possessions, and riches filled the life of this great king and yet his final analysis was that it was all “…vanity and a striving after wind.” Even Christ our Lord added, “for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15)." So many today live a meaningless life and pass this on even to their children and we see the despair that hangs over a generation as suicide is the number two killer of teens in America…why, there is nothing to live for, for even pleasure has left man empty. Ravi Zacharias stated: “Meaninglessness comes not from a weariness of pain, but from a weariness of pleasure.” As a follower of Christ, I realize that life finds meaning in relationships and that ultimate meaning is found in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. From this truth comes the understanding that pleasure, pain, possessions and life’s necessities find their ultimate meaning. Solomon in the end found this to be the truth when he wrote: “Remember now thy Creator…and… Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:1, 13-14).”