Seems to me Solomon may have written these words as an old guy contemplating a long life of challenges and bad choices but seeing his end as a victory. Younger people are not there yet because they still have plenty of time to really get serious about seeing the end of life. So, they "entertain" themselves with empty pursuits that mask the reality that life is fragile and fleeting. Like Solomon, I know because I've been there too.
"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. So, wickedness will not release those who practice it." Eccl 8:7-8 NIV
To me, this is a statement about the end of a meaningless life that has refused to really hear God, the true King. Death is inevitable for all and we all know it but we will die as we have lived. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, THERE will your heart be also." An ungodly lifestyle can only end one way.
Wealth, power, fame, position are all finally meaningless if they have been wasted on purely self serving motives that fail to recognize and honor the true source of life itself. Every life that has turned a deaf ear to God the only King, regardless of the honors received from men, will finally be judged as pointless.
This, to me, is Solomon's personal testimony and observation.
Showing posts with label meaningless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meaningless. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
"I Hate Life!"
Yeah, sometimes "life" can be like that.
Solomon wrote - "When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:11
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart, 'This too is meaningless...like the fool the wise man too must die'. So, I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." v:15-17 NIV
Every person who has lived long enough can surely testify that "Life is pointless - I hate my life!" We all experience those times in a dark valley of black despair when all we have done appears meaningless, those days when nothing seems to work out for our good.
I believe Solomon is writing out of a faithless perspective because that was the prevailing sentiment among unbelievers. And, it's still true, life is meaningless if we ignore the love of our Father and the certain hope offered to us in Jesus Christ.
Our total inability to control everything in our life leaves every life wide open to results and consequences that can seem hopeless. That is the BIG LIE Satan wants us to buy into and he works overtime to pile on more and more devastation. Satan is the enemy that creates all the chaos in our life.
Here is what I have come to know from personal experience and many years of watching and listening to countless others - people of real faith refuse to wallow around in self pity for very long. The Holy Spirit just will not allow it! At some point, faith rises to the top and even when things don't work out the way we wanted, we are still able to trust God to help us see past the "meaningless" nature of it all.
There is always MORE that none of us knows, only God does and only his Holy Spirit can help us see what we cant see. That's the power of faith, it always points us forward. HALLELUJAH!
Solomon wrote - "When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:11
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise? I said in my heart, 'This too is meaningless...like the fool the wise man too must die'. So, I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." v:15-17 NIV
Every person who has lived long enough can surely testify that "Life is pointless - I hate my life!" We all experience those times in a dark valley of black despair when all we have done appears meaningless, those days when nothing seems to work out for our good.
I believe Solomon is writing out of a faithless perspective because that was the prevailing sentiment among unbelievers. And, it's still true, life is meaningless if we ignore the love of our Father and the certain hope offered to us in Jesus Christ.
Our total inability to control everything in our life leaves every life wide open to results and consequences that can seem hopeless. That is the BIG LIE Satan wants us to buy into and he works overtime to pile on more and more devastation. Satan is the enemy that creates all the chaos in our life.
Here is what I have come to know from personal experience and many years of watching and listening to countless others - people of real faith refuse to wallow around in self pity for very long. The Holy Spirit just will not allow it! At some point, faith rises to the top and even when things don't work out the way we wanted, we are still able to trust God to help us see past the "meaningless" nature of it all.
There is always MORE that none of us knows, only God does and only his Holy Spirit can help us see what we cant see. That's the power of faith, it always points us forward. HALLELUJAH!
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