This book, written by Solomon, is somewhat of a lament. After many years of great wisdom he sees the fruitlessness and futility of many pursuits, and writes his reflections down in this book.
” ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (v2-3,5,7,18)
This chapter reminds me of the Pink Floyd song “Time” which has the lyric “So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking racing around to come up behind you again”. I’m also reminded of Kansas’ song “Dust in the Wind” which says “All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see”. They seem to share Solomon’s opinion that much of what we can do in this life is either a waste of time, or futile.
The Bible says: “…you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” (Eph 4:17 abr) “…walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col 1:10 abr) “…I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…” (Jn 15:16 abr)
Based on those verses it is true that much of what we can do in this life is totally meaningless (‘walking as the unbelievers do’), however, when we do as God directs, pleasing Him, our good works will bear fruit that endures. These works include things of eternal value, such as missional work which leads people to Jesus and eternal life. Such pursuits are most certainly not meaningless.
I encourage us to evaluate how we spend the majority of our time – are we serving God in fruitful ways, or do we “fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way”? Rest is good, but too much time spent in our own service is not what God desires for our lives.
Father God, our Wise and Knowledgeable King, holy, holy, holy is Your name. Thank you for the gift of Your Spirit, who guides and directs our lives. May we learn to listen to His leadership, and spend time helping build Your eternal kingdom. May we invest our finite time wisely, knowing that once it’s gone we cannot get more. Though Jesus’ ministry on earth was relatively short, His impact was significant. May we too have a fruitful impact for Your glory, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training