“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.’” Ecc 1:2
I wish I could lay before you the entire book of Ecclesiastes, but I can’t. All I can say is its absolutely beautiful. To most of us the above verse is like a rain cloud on a sunny day. Why does the author of Ecclesiastes have to be such a downer? But perhaps our little emo author is on to something. I mean, life isnt all fun and games, is it? “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecc 3:1).
Inevitably in this life you will go through seasons or times where you feel depressed. And in those times Ecclesiastes is just the kind of book you want to read. It gives voice to the sense of apathy and hopelessness that accompanies depression. Have you ever gone to a party when you feel depressed? Everyone else seems so happy, how can they possibly understand how you feel? It’s like they’re in a different world. Its the most isolated feeling in the world; while you are down and dejected, the rest of the world is having a party. And it’s in this moment that you ask yourself, “What’s the point? What’s the point to all of this? We have fun and laugh, and for what?” The author of Ecclesiastes answers that very question. He puts life in perspective and looks at life in light of eternity.
Seasons of suffering are definitely the most humbling. Suffering seems to have a way of putting things in perspective: there is more to life than fun and games. Ecclesiastes means “to gather.” Literally, people are gathering things, thinking the more they have the better off they will be. Chapter after chapter the author of Ecclesiastes speaks of the emptiness of all we gather. The author has gathered all things: wealth greater than any other king, countless women, great achievements and success, and pleasures beyond measure.
If he wanted it, he had it. He denied his eyes nothing he desired. And at the end of it all he reaches his conclusion: it’s all empty and meaningless. Pleasure is meaningless. Laughter is meaningless. Work is meaningless. Success and achievement are meaningless. Wealth is meaningless. Even wisdom apart from God is meaningless; indeed such wisdom brings misery. For these things pass away and the gratification they give ends. Man toils, only for someone else to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He had it all, and he still was not happy. Man spends his life gathering, and then cannot even enjoy what he has gathered.
“The author sees a busy, busy human in mad pursuit of many things, trying now this, now that, laboring away as if by human effort alone he can master the world, control his destiny, and secure lasting happiness. But his conclusion is this: humans by all their striving cannot achieve anything of ultimate or enduring significance, nor can they secure lasting happiness” (NIV Study). Man cannot master the world around him. Nor can man control his future and destiny - as the author puts it, “no one knows whether love or hate awaits them” (Ecc 9:1).
But this is how we live our lives - busy, busy, busy. And for what? What does our busyness accomplish? Do our efforts ever master the world around us? The things we pursue and busy ourselves with do not last. After one party we look forward to the next. Marriage ends - either by divorce or death, be it after three years or forty years of marriage. Possessions yield to the law of diminishing marginal utility. Prosperity easily lends itself to complacency, and complacency deceives. Prosperity can deceive a man into thinking that suffering is some far off thing that will never hit close to home. I dont mean to sound depressing, but at the end of the day, isn’t our end inevitably in death - whether its tomorrow of fifty years from now?
The authors conclusion is this: all things must be interpreted in light of eternity. Our human efforts cannot bring security or achieve anything that will last forever. We cannot pursue meaningless and non-eternal things, for what is the point of pursuing such things? He gave us life physically but now we must go to Him for life for our inner being. Only He can accomplish anything that lasts and endures. Apart from Him nothing we do will be a lasting work. “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…’” (John 15:5, 16).
Life apart from God is truly meaningless. Everything must be interpreted in light of God, for He is the source of all life and gives luster to all of creation - everything is at its best when found in Him. Pleasure finds meaning in Him. Wisdom finds meaning in Him. Laughter finds meaning in Him. Work finds meaning in Him. Success and achievement find meaning in Him. He gives everything we do its meaning and life. He becomes the drive in life. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 cor 10:31). He is the point, He is our destiny if we choose Him.
Self-help books will encourage you to discover your purpose and meaning by looking within yourself. But this is the wrong place to start. You did not create yourself, so its useless trying to come up with your own purpose and meaning. And until you can grasp this, nothing else in life will make sense. You must begin with God your Creator and His reasons for creating you if you want to discover your meaning and purpose. Your purpose cannot be found in any other created thing. For these things also find meaning only in their Creator. These things did not create you (let alone themselves), so how can they give purpose and meaning to you? Your purpose extends beyond this lifetime. You were made for so much more than this. You were made to know God and for His good pleasure.
