Day 22 - 40 Days in the Old Testament

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days in the Old Testament
Day  22 | SEARCHING FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE
SEARCHING FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE

Ecclesiastes 1:2-5
“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.” 
(NLT)

Solomon, “the Teacher,” tries to make sense of life and figure out where wisdom and truth fit in. His pessimistic diatribe we just read seems out of sorts for the guy who wrote Proverbs. But he was wondering… “WHAT is the point of life?”

Have you ever been there? Wondering what’s the point of it all? Well, Solomon was also wondering, even with his being a King, his substantial wealth, and having received wisdom directly from the LORD Himself.

Solomon then starts to figure that there is a time for everything under the sun. But he was still wondering about the purpose of wealth, power, fame, success, and pleasure… since death comes to everyone anyway.  

Today we’ve probably all observed people who strive for success and are not satisfied even after obtaining it. Some strive for wealth and get it but are still not happy. These observations seem to support what Solomon writes “everything is completely meaningless!”

Can anything give meaning and purpose to our lives? Is there anything that can satisfy that deep hunger within for a life of significance? Did Solomon – arguably the wisest man of all time – ever figure it out?

Yes, he did! His conclusion was this:  
“That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NLT)

Prayer: LORD God, thank You for providing a way for me to have a meaningful, purposeful life. Your Word is truth. Amen