The meaning of life- Ecclesiastes
My church has recently been going through it and I find myself regretting not having studied it years ago. Sure, I'd read bits and pieces. The whole first chapter at one point. But I found myself confused and depressed and I just gave up and moved to another book. However, now that I have grounded myself more firmly in the study of God's Word over the last couple of years, I find that I now understand the book more easily. One key was understanding that when Solomon says "under the sun" he is referring to life apart from God. I now see that there is rich meaning to be found within the book of Ecclesiastes, just as there is in each book of the Bible.
There are so many particular points which struck home for me, it would take forever to discuss them all, and the points may be different for each of you, but I do think there are two things which we can all understand and take to heart. The first is that, if God's glory is not the ultimate motivation for what you are doing, then your actions are meaningless, pointless, - as Solomon says, "chasing after the wind." The other thing is something my pastor pointed out and it really stuck with me. Have you ever wondered, "Does what I do really matter?" , or "Is my life really important in the big scheme of things?" Well, the answer is a resounding YES! As my pastor put it:
