MEANINGLESS!!!

Meaningless, Meaningless!!! That's what I thought every time I read from Ecclesiastes. This remains one of those books that many people do not understand. I lived in this state for years until I finally finished the book! It usually got so uninteresting because of the lack of understanding, I rarely got past chapter three!

The background of the book must be taken in to consideration when trying to understand its content. We believe the book was written by Solomon, perhaps in his last days on earth. That idea fits well with internal evidences in the text itself. He concludes that life itself is meaningless! This seems to be a rather rash conclusion given that it is being made by the world's wisest man! He declares that he has found wisdom, pleasures, folly, work, oppression (both for the oppressor and oppressed), advancement and wealth meaningless. It is difficult to reconcile this with our lives today, especially when we are sure it is part of the Bible which is perfectly infallible.

As I looked through this book, God spoke to me about the nation I live in. There seems to be today what i call the Kenyan Dream. It is the ideal pattern of life for the average Kenyan. It starts with getting a good education. Once you pass your primary school exams, you go to high school where you are expected to pass and go to university, where you must do the serious courses like medicine, law, engineering etc. Following this, you ought to go and get a job. Now that the job market is flooding rapidly, it would be advisable to get a masters degree to make yourself more marketable. After you start working, you should begin saving up for a piece of land where you can build a house or maybe even mortgage or buy one. Then comes the car and the good life! The spouse is soon to follow, to crown your efforts and then you have children who re-live the script.

I noted that the very pillars of the Kenyan Dream are mentioned as meaningless by Solomon-the world's wisest man. The wisdom (education), wealth (well-paying job), work (profession), the property and assets (advancement) and all the pleasures of life. These particular things are not necessarily bad, but they lose meaning when they do not exist to build the Kingdom of God. The book ends on this note, but because we rarely get to the end of the book, we miss out on this insight! Chapter 12:9-14 summarizes the thoughts of the writer, with the key statement being in verse 13: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." That's all we exist to do! Fear God and keep His commands. Everything we do or acquire in life must be set to accomplish these two objectives. If not, it becomes meaningless!!! Solomon had to discover this not by his great wisdom but by his experience. We have Solomon's wisdom and experience to learn from! We have no excuse!

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your might! Do it for the Lord! If it be writing children's books, attending to ill people, writing music, constructing buildings or even studying, do it for the Lord! He gave His all for you, it would only makes sense to give your all for Him. Paul writes in Romans 12 that offering our bodies as living sacrifices is our REASONABLE service to God! Give your gifts, talents and abilities, intellect, emotions, thoughts, profession, possessions, wealth and ultimately yourself to God! Colossians 1:17 says that it is in Jesus that all things consist. That really means that He is the glue that sticks all creation together! Hence, not giving Him all we have and all we are is really floating meaninglessly in overwhelming meaninglessness!
Purpose is found only in Christ. Pursuit of fulfillment in anything else is a striving after the wind, as my good friend Solomon put it!