Ecclesiastes 1 begins in a tale of hopelessness: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” A strange beginning of my journey this year into taking to heart God’s word for me to “Enjoy” wouldn’t you say? After hearing this guidance from Him in January I took to my Bible to find passages which would be key in supporting my success this year. I found so many great scriptures such as:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24
One book, however, kept popping up – King Solomon’s study of the meaningless life – Ecclesiastes. It’s not a book to tackle lightly. In fact, when pastors and Bible teachers warn us about taking scripture out of context, I would venture to say two books might come to mind, both the book of Job and Ecclesiastes. Wisdom is not always easily understood. It uses metaphors, symbolism, parables, and logic. Jesus, Himself, was prone to sometimes confusing bouts of wisdom instruction. The disciples, in John 16, sounded relieved when they say to Jesus, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.” (Jn 16:29)
But Ecclesiastes mentions “enjoy” throughout its pages. In fact, you might say the entire book is figuring out how to enjoy this seemingly repetitive and mundane life. Is it through knowledge? Through wealth, food, drink, or other sensual pleasures? Or maybe through wisdom – something God gifted King Solomon. This book’s sometimes confusing yet, intriguing study of life, drew me in wanting the keys to one of life’s greatest questions. A question a new friend of mine said she googled just the other day, “What is the meaning of life?”
I hope you join me on this journey during the next 10 or 12 weeks as we let King Solomon’s in-depth look into the “meaningless” life work into our hearts and minds. I want to encourage you to read the entire book during the series. It’s 12 short chapters! His truth-telling is sometimes raw and a little painful. However, his honesty serves to strengthen our faith. As Jesus once so famously admonished His disciples:
“Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:25-26
In other words, love God and enjoy your life.
Enjoy Life: from meaningless to meaningful begins Monday, March 4. Please encourage your friends and family to follow along by having them receive their weekly email post. Sign up at Emboldened.net.
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