If someone were to ask you how to make the most of your life, what would you say? Some people believe that achieving financial success, social status, or career aspirations is necessary to make the most of their lives. The truth is, none of these things here on earth can truly lead to a meaningful, fulfilled life. If we place our hope and faith in the things of this world, we will find ourselves empty and dissatisfied.
Solomon, the son of King David, experienced the truth that nothing in this earth can satisfy, and he wrote about it in Ecclesiastes 1. He began this book of the Bible with the words, “Everything is meaningless… completely meaningless” (verse 2). Several verses later, he lamented just how meaningless everything is by saying, “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content" (verse 8). Nothing on this earth could satisfy Solomon, and he was the son of a king who had ultimately become king, too. Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon recounts the places in this world where he had sought fulfillment and satisfaction. These places he looked to for purpose included wisdom, wealth, pleasure, women, and more. Solomon searched for purpose in these things and found them all to be meaningless. As a result, he found himself purposeless and unfulfilled after trying to find meaning in them. After searching the world for purpose, fulfillment, and satisfaction, Solomon came to find that nothing on this earth can satisfy.
What was true for Solomon is true for us today. We can search the world over for satisfaction in wealth, relationships, knowledge, or anything else in this world, but we will come up purposeless and unsatisfied. Solomon described this search as “chasing the wind,” a futile feat (verse 17). As followers of Christ, we know that true purpose and meaning can only be found in Christ. In order to find purpose in Him, we have to stop the relentless pursuit of fulfillment in the things of this world.
Where have you been looking for meaning and satisfaction apart from God? Maybe you have looked to wealth, possessions, other people, or something else. Confess these things to God today. Admit to him the false places you have been searching for meaning and fulfillment. Acknowledge that these things cannot satisfy because only He can bring true satisfaction. Commit to letting go of anything other than Him for meaning and fulfillment.
hese are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.
2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.
To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
