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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Ecclesiastes 1:12–14
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under Heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
So what is the whole point of life?
Solomon is the author of the Book and it is a description of his search for answers to the big questions of life and the frustration he experienced outside of a relationship with God.
It is also a very accurate description of where mankind is today. Trying to find satisfaction outside of a relationship with God Himself – the very reason we were created. As we have seen all through Scripture, we are made image-bearers of God for the purpose of having an intimate relationship with Him.
We all desperately crave and long for security, self-worth and significance. It is an insatiable desire within each one of us. Yet, so often we seek the solution from anyone or anything “under the sun” only to find that nothing satisfies. Friends can neither meet my needs nor come up to my expectations.
It is true that we have been created people who long for and need an unconditional, intimate, loving, and open relationship with someone. However, when we look to others, not only do we find that they fail to measure up to our expectations, but on top of that, they are just like us, looking for someone else to satisfy their needs. Intimate relationships just highlight the other person’s failure and inadequacy in meeting our needs. That is why marriage can often turn out to be an unexpected battleground and source of frustration.
We will never be able to find in another human being what can be found only in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Drugs, alcohol or sex may deaden the pain temporarily but when their effects wear off, a worse despair is experienced. Wealth, investments, and things may give temporary elation but are too volatile, subject to exchange rates, inflation, the market economy or plain burglary. Furthermore, the desire to gain them is greater than the satisfaction experienced from them. No sooner have we acquired them than their appeal disappears, the next ‘want’ raises its head, and the insufficiency of the item becomes obvious.
As soon as you buy your longed for brand new ‘dream’ car, it becomes second-hand, and depreciates an enormous amount in value as you drive it from the sales yard. Then the next set of number plates is issued just to prove yours is old and on top of that, the next model is released with so many more necessary extras. The security such ‘things’ bring is tenuous in the extreme and we end up spending our lives trying to ‘protect’ them.
Achievement can be sweet for the moment but it cannot cover the emptiness within. It may indeed bring a temporary feeling of significance but if it is in the arena of my workplace, for example, what happens when redundancy ‘strikes’ – which can occur regardless of the ‘height’ I have reached? And what happens at retirement if I am able to live that long? If my significance is job-related – I’ve lost the lot. No wonder so many die within the first few years of redundancy or retirement.
The writer is correct. You can work your fingers to the bone, risk your marriage and family seeking significance and self-worth and end up finding them a painful, seductive illusion.
May I challenge you? What have you set your heart on?
Stop now, if it will just end up “meaningless” or “a chasing after the wind”.
Or your tombstone may exclaim –
“Brilliant performance – but missed the whole point.”
The price is too high.
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