MEANINGLESS (PART 3)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I’ve been blessed to live 54 years.

Through those 54 years, I’ve had more than a few pleasurable moments, enjoying the things the world has to offer, offerings that have allowed me to experience success and achievement, offerings that have been enjoyable to experience.

And yet, as I grow older and older, it seems the things of the world lose their luster as I can’t get over the truth that I know now in Christ, the truth that there is something much greater ahead that I haven’t experienced, something so amazingly pleasurable that it will make the most gratifying things of the world pale by comparison.

Now, Solomon preceded the coming of Jesus but we get a sense from the scripture passage today that he had become unfulfilled by the world and its offerings as well. Look again at his words:

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Think about what a king in Solomon’s time had at his disposal. It was pretty much everything and anything the world could offer. They had what they wanted to include an incredible wealth to use as they pleased, wealth that allowed Solomon to build houses and plant vineyards, to make gardens and parks full of fruit trees, to create reservoirs so to water groves of trees, to acquire servants and singers and livestock and silver and gold. Yes, Solomon had obtained more than any other king who had come before him in Jerusalem. He denied himself nothing he desired.

And yet, when it was all said and done with, when Solomon surveyed what he had done and what he had gained, he realized that all of it was meaningless.

Huh? Wouldn’t anyone want to have just a fraction of what Solomon had so to enjoy life more, to be able to afford a better standard of living, to experience more pleasure? How in the world could that kind of life be considered meaningless?

Because it’s the kind of life that offers temporary pleasure and I guess you can pursue it if you have no interest in living past this temporary life you have been blessed with.

Solomon, full of God’s wisdom, was able to view the world through a different lens than everyone else. Where the people of the world coveted his riches, seeing them as everything they could ever wish for, he saw them as worthless compared to the riches found in his Lord, the Lord God Almighty, the One who brings treasures of heaven that are far more valuable than any treasure on earth, treasures that have eternal value.

This is why Jesus later would advise His disciples (as well as us) to store up treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth for where one’s treasure is, there their heart will be (Matthew 6:19-21). If you place your faith and trust in the things of the world, then your heart will be in the world, immersed in all its sinfulness and wickedness which are as plentiful as its treasures. But if one shifted their value system to embrace the treasures of heaven, seeking to fill their storehouses with righteousness and holiness and the love of God, then and only then would their heart be where God wants it to be, fully with Him and Him alone.

This was the view Solomon had because He viewed the world through the eyes of God by way of His wisdom. And when we decide to look at our world in the same way, then, like Solomon, we will see that the pleasures of this world are meaningless when compared to the eternal joy and peace we have through our Lord God Almighty, the One who gave us a chance to enjoy His love and righteousness forever through His Son Jesus Christ, the One we give our heart to when we embrace the riches found in the treasures of heaven.

Where is your heart today? With this meaningless world or with the only One who gives life true meaning now and forever?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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