Your Best Life Now?

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, the son of King David. Solomon is considered by many to be the richest and wisest man who ever lived.  In this book he presents to us the vanity and futility of life lived independent of and in opposition to God, what he refers to as life lived “under the sun.”

Solomon sought, possessed and experienced everything we have come to believe will make us happy and fulfilled in this world. He tells us that he sought and obtained great wisdom, inordinate wealth and possessions, unrivaled power and prestige, and access to every form of sensual pleasure imaginable including having over a thousand women available to have sex with at any given time. If there was ever a man who had the freedom and ability to do whatever he pleased, whenever he pleased, however he pleased (which is what we all want – right?), he had it.  And yet Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s exposition (and warning) of the vanity, the futility, the frustration of pursuing our ultimate happiness and fulfilment, our significance and security in a world that offers us everything we think we want, but absolutely nothing we will ever need to satisfy the deepest needs and desires of our heart and fulfill the most noble longings of our soul; which only God can do.

Our present world and our lives in it are deeply flawed in every respect.  Despite all of our so called political wisdom, scientific knowledge and technology, we still are afflicted with the same social problems man has struggled with throughout human history as crime, poverty, racial prejudice, divorce and broken families, drug addiction, child abuse, war and famine continue unabated.  We have no defense against natural disasters, only more efficient ways of cleaning up after they have their way.  And modern medicine, despite all of its hype and heroic efforts, can only make us more comfortable in our inevitable march toward death.

The life of joy and pleasure and happiness we all seek, (and which God created us for) is ever elusive in a life lived “under the sun.”  If we do find it, it is always temporary and fleeting, filled with contrary sorrows (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), leaving us mostly unsatisfied and unfulfilled – always wanting better – always needing more;  more money, more friends, better sex, better drugs (both recreational and medicinal), fun weekends and grand vacations, a loving wife/husband and obedient children, good health, a good job, an early retirement, a good education and vocational success.

In our vain pursuit of these things, we find that we have no real time for God, no real energy or passion for pursuing His plan and purposes for our life; no real desire for intimacy with His person; only  interest and affection, time and energy for pursing the things and relationships and activities of this present age that we believe will bring us happiness and fulfillment, independent of God and where necessary, in opposition to God.

And when this pursuit gets significantly interfered with, as it most certainly has been for most of us in the midst of this pandemic, fear and anger and anxiety take hold of us and lead us to despair, a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, which is exactly what God wants us to experience so that we, like the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, come to our senses and see the futility of pursuing our ultimate joy, pleasure and satisfaction in this sin corrupted world; and that we do so before we lose forever the infinitely glorious, infinitely satisfying life with God for which we were created (Mark 8:36)  

Solomon in the midst of his dispiriting monologue, points us to a hopeful antidote to life “under the sun” and that is life “under heaven,” life under God’s gracious rule.  In Ecclesiastes 3:11, he tells us that God has put eternity in our hearts, a sense that we were created for a world of infinitely greater joy, pleasure and satisfaction than anything found “under the sun,” and in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, he informs us that such a life is found only in fearing God and keeping His commandments.  Jesus tells us in John 10:10, that He came to give us such a life, and that it is only within intimate relationship with Him as the object of our deepest love and source of our greatest joy that we will enter that life.  (1 John 5:10-13) (Luke 10:25-28)

Grace and Peace ×