O Lord make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Psalm 39:4
One of my favorite books of the bible is Ecclesiastes, I have done thorough studies of it, at least, 3 times and (as with all scripture studies) come away with something new every time.
It is reasoned that the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon, who was chosen by God to be King. When God chose Solomon to be King, He said to Solomon “Ask what I shall give you” (1Kings 3:5 & 2 Chronicles 1:7) and of all the things that Solomon could have asked for He asked that God grant him wisdom and knowledge so that he could lead the people that God had given him to govern. God gave Solomon what he asked for and provided him with great wisdom and knowledge, so great that 1 Kings 40:30 says “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt”. That’s a lot of wisdom!
Solomon begins his life as a man who loves God and is a Godly leader. But the world derails him and he doesn’t end up in such a great place, in fact if you read the book of Ecclesiastes you would find that it is quite depressing. It is from the view point of a man who has lived his life, chasing after notoriety, material possession, self gratification (in every form known) and now….in his old age, has found that it was all “vanity and chasing after the wind”. It was FUTILE.
One of the other things that Solomon really focuses on is how fleeting this life is. In Ecc. 1:2 Solomon likens our life to that of a passing mist. He says it is like trying to catch hold of breath; all vanishes like a vapor; everything is vanity.
As depressing as all of this sounds, it does appear to have a more upbeat ending in that Solomon’s wisdom reaches it’s pinnacle at the end of the book because he says “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” Ecc. 12:13-14. He finally recognizes that life apart from God, is futile and of no benefit.
I think that we could all be accused of living a life somewhat like that of Solomon, at some point in our lives. We try to obtain everything we can, money, possessions, status, etc.. But, hopefully wisdom is attained through life experience and (if we know Jesus) through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we realize that our rewards are not here, they are in heaven awaiting our arrival. Reward far greater than anything this life has to offer. Can I just say, there is such freedom in that revelation.
The things that we attempt to acquire in this life, those things that are not God’s will for our life, are just bondage. They cause us to desire more and more, bigger and better and for what? So that we can leave it behind for someone else when we die?
We may spend eternity in heaven worshiping God, but we have only this short life to serve God and advance the Gospel.
God gives us examples like Solomon to learn from, not to model our lives after. Let’s learn from him. He lived his life striving to fill the void in his life with earthly things and in the end, realized that God was the answer all along. And he had done little to actually serve God, very few (if any) eternal reward awaiting him.
I pray that today, would be a day that finds you closer to the Lord than you were yesterday and the beginning of a life of fervent service to God.
Have a great day!
Luv ya!
