Searching for Significance

copyright 2007 j whiteman

Searching for Significance

Ecclesiastes 1:1-12:14

Solomon was an amazing man. His reputation is known not just in the Bible -- even secular historians are impressed with his unusual wisdom. He was a man who had all the money, power, time, and energy to make his dreams come true. He could literally have or do anything he wanted too. But, he was also restless. He wanted to figure out what life was all about. So he embarked on a no-holds barred, philosophical safari that cost him millions of dollars and many years of his life. He was on a search for his purpose in life.

I should tell you ahead of time that the journey he took, while mind-boggling, left him deflated, depressed and disillusioned. The best word to describe how he felt is empty. In fact, Solomon’s  motto appears right at the beginning of the book in 1:2, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” Says the Teacher, Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” This word is used 35 different times. 

I’d like to share with you, four lessons I take away from this amazing book.

1. Recognize the reality of eternity. Look at verse 3:11 for a moment, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

2. Remember God before it’s too late. Look at Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’”
 
3. Reflect on what really matters. 12:8 says, "Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Everything is meaningless!’” 


4. Respond to God. Solomon’s bottom line is really just a simple statement recorded at the end of his diary. Take a look at 12:13, “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.”