Nearly 50 times in Ecclesiastes Solomon described "life" as "meaningless". His narrow view seems to be that "since life ends in death, all of life is meaningless". That common denominator for all of us, rich/poor, wise/foolish, learned/ignorant, seems to him to be the inevitable result that proves no one can find meaning in his/her life.
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is (nothing)." Eccl 9:10 NIV
At v:7 he says "Get all the good our of your life NOW because NOW is the only gift God has for you."
I believe that to be an accurate statement, BUT only for those who ignore God's love and his word. Paul seems to paraphrase Solomon - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord - since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." Colossians 3:23 NIV
Paul's words addressed to Christian slaves, carry a deep meaning for all of us who have put our faith and trust in the love of God and the price paid for our sins by Jesus. He also told us that "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, we must all be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:50
So here is my takeaway for today. Yes, Solomon, its true we all will one day take our final breath in this human body. However, God has much more planned for us after that event occurs than all we ever experienced while in the flesh. We have an eternal "inheritance" that we will never "outlive". Although death may appear to be a dark tunnel with an even darker dead end, because of Jesus, there is light at the end of that tunnel. Solomon either never knew that or was unimpressed with it.
Me? Hey, I can see it in the near future and I'm looking forward to it! That's HOME!
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