July 13 - Ecclesiastes 1-4
Solomon decided to become a philosopher during part of his life, so he could figure out the meaning of life. The book of Ecclesiasties is his report on his search for the meaning of life. Of course, it is not just the ideas of Solomon, but it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. God intended for the wisest man to pass along his findings to us, and He inspired him to record it for us in His Word.
This book can be depressing if you don't read it closely, and if you don't realize that Solomon is trying to make a radical point. His point is that life on this earth without the Lord is meaningless. No matter what a person accomplishes or experiences in this life, if he or she does not experience God's blessing, it is all vanity or meaningless. Solomon used all of his material resources and all of his wisdom to search life out, and this was his conclusion. I pray that we will all understand this without having to go through the pain of the search ourselves.
The more Solomon saw the more he realized that life was filled with sorrow and toil. He saw that it was filled with repetition and no real completion of anything. Life goes on generation after generation. This discouraged him, and it caused him to hate life. (2:17) However, that was not the end of his findings. Look at Proverbs 3:11-15. God makes everything beautiful in its time. He can make good come out of the sorrow and toil of this life. he puts eternity in the hearts of men and women. He shows us to enjoy life, and to rejoice in Him. One day we will be with Him in heaven for eternity if we put our trust in Him. Therefore, life is meaningful, not because of the earthly results, but because of how we live it. God will reward us as we live it well according to His Word.
Proverbs 4 makes a great point for today's world, too. God does not mean for us to live life alone. He wants us to have friends who love us and support us. That is why He made the family and the church as well as friendship. We need to value true companionship and grow in relationships. That is the other conclusion to this book, isn't it? Life has meaning because of our relationship with God and our relationships with others, not because of all of the things we have or we do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 5-8.
This book can be depressing if you don't read it closely, and if you don't realize that Solomon is trying to make a radical point. His point is that life on this earth without the Lord is meaningless. No matter what a person accomplishes or experiences in this life, if he or she does not experience God's blessing, it is all vanity or meaningless. Solomon used all of his material resources and all of his wisdom to search life out, and this was his conclusion. I pray that we will all understand this without having to go through the pain of the search ourselves.
The more Solomon saw the more he realized that life was filled with sorrow and toil. He saw that it was filled with repetition and no real completion of anything. Life goes on generation after generation. This discouraged him, and it caused him to hate life. (2:17) However, that was not the end of his findings. Look at Proverbs 3:11-15. God makes everything beautiful in its time. He can make good come out of the sorrow and toil of this life. he puts eternity in the hearts of men and women. He shows us to enjoy life, and to rejoice in Him. One day we will be with Him in heaven for eternity if we put our trust in Him. Therefore, life is meaningful, not because of the earthly results, but because of how we live it. God will reward us as we live it well according to His Word.
Proverbs 4 makes a great point for today's world, too. God does not mean for us to live life alone. He wants us to have friends who love us and support us. That is why He made the family and the church as well as friendship. We need to value true companionship and grow in relationships. That is the other conclusion to this book, isn't it? Life has meaning because of our relationship with God and our relationships with others, not because of all of the things we have or we do.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 5-8.