HOW to find REAL JOY and MEANING in LIFE?
July 12
Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes Chapters 10-12
HOW to find REAL JOY and MEANING in LIFE?
"Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of
your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will
bring you into judgment. Remember now
your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and
the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them."
(Eccl 11:9; 12:1)
As King
Solomon brings the book of Ecclesiastes to a conclusion, he turns his attention
to the young people in his kingdom and gives them some timeless advice of how they can find real joy and meaning in life.
Let us understand the philosophy of many young people these days – “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we
die” is actually a conflation of two biblical sayings: "…a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and
be merry…" (Eccl 8:15) and "Let
us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (Isaiah 22:13). This is a
wrong approach to life, and will surely end in utter failure.
In order to
find real joy and meaning in life, there
are three things that we should do even when we are young:
- We must recognize that we are
ultimately accountable to God alone (11:9). We can go in our own ways and do whatever we want
with our life, but we should be aware that we will one stand before God who
will judge us for what we have done in our life. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has
done, whether good or bad." (2 Cor 5:10)
- Early on in life we should recognize
the existence and claims of our Creator God (12:1). In a brilliant metaphor describing the aging
process (12:2–7), Solomon suggests that we should not wait until our old age
before turning to the Lord and serving Him. We should do so when we are young
so that we can live our entire life with significance.
- We should revere God and obey His
commandments
(12:13). All the teachings in the book of Ecclesiastes lead to this conclusion
(12:9–10). The bottom line is to fear God
by revering Him and displaying that by keeping His commandments, for a day
is coming when He will judge everyone and call them to account for all their
works (12:14).
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Eccl 12: 13-14)
