Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:17 NLT)
He has planted eternity in the human heart… (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT)
Observation
It’s a little unfair to divide Ecclesiastes up (over three days, no less). The book is a unit, and needs to be read and understood as such. Indeed, I don’t think Ecclesiastes can be fully appreciated until it’s fully read—you gotta get all the way to the end to get the full point. Still, there are hints of its message throughout, and that’s what has my attention today.
“Everything is meaningless” is Solomon’s repeated cry (we take Solomon to be the author). But there’s a caveat…an important qualification…to what he says. He’s referencing everything “done here under the sun.”
And he’s right. If this life is all there is, if we’re “here today, gone tomorrow”, everything is ultimately meaningless. If that’s the case, it’s a “make do” situation at best. Enjoy your life. Work hard. Relax a little. “Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have” (Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT).
But what Solomon hints at is what every one of us knows intuitively. That existence “under the sun” isn’t big enough to define all we were created for…that the constraints of time and space trap us in a world smaller than it ought to be…that “he has planted eternity in the human heart…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT).
Only, then, in light of eternity…only in light of all we were created for—which stretches far beyond the confines of “under the sun”—can life be seen for what it is…and lived as it ought to be lived.
“Lord, remind me of the meaningless of life confined to only an ‘under the sun’ perspective. Help me to nurture the sense of eternity…your plans and my place in them…that you’ve put in my heart. Let that perspective shape who I am and how I live!”
1 comment:
The book of Ecclesiastes, to me, seems to be the cry of Solomon's heart for the need of a Saviour. To me, he seems to need a sense of purpose in this life that leads into our lives in Eternity.
Heaven is my vision of Eternity. It is eternal, right? I have an idea of what I would want it to be like because I have all my earthly faculties about me and a keen awareness of my desire for 'earthly' pleasures. Which, by the way, does seem to lessen as I cultivate a relationship with Jesus and find my joy in Him (things eternal) instead of other things. My question is can our perception of Heaven even be remotely accurate when it is based on this insufficient earthly minded way of thinking that we know what is pleasurable? We will all be filled with such joy and peace and the presence of God when we get there, so what will it matter if we are lying in a hammock, oceanside with a cold drink in hand and a slight breeze? Which seems to be some people's explanation of what Heaven will be like for them.. Are people so intent of the comforts of this world as to limit their ideas of what it should be like when they go to live with Jesus?
The very first verse of Ecc.chapter 7: "A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth."
I really like this proverbial scripture because it rings a chord with me. Oh what a day it will be when we get to go be with our Lord and Saviour!!! I guess it could be interpreted as a desperate plea for death to come to someone who is depressed and displeased with life on this earth, but I choose to believe that Solomon had a glimpse into the eternal life and what a precious day that would be for someone who lived righteously on this earth, eternally minded.
I really enjoyed your blog yesterday on eternity being in our hearts. It helps to explain the longing we have for something more than this earthly life will ever offer yet we can experience eternity while being here. Needed to see that.
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