Everything is Meaningless

We all know that our life here in earth is just temporary. Our life span is not permanent for we all know that we will face death one day. Earth is just our temporary home and heaven is the place we really belong. It is the place where God made for all His children.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it clearly states there that everything is meaningless. Ecc. 1:2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.“Utterly meaningless Everything is meaningless.” Several points have been mentioned and discussed in this book about the things that are meaningless under the sun.

1. Wisdom is meaningless.

Ecc. 1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. I wrestled with God when i meditate these words for I believe that one of the greatest gift God can give to mankind is the gift of wisdom but I came to realize that this too is meaningless. How come? Let’s sight for example the aethiest - it is their belief that the Bible is not true and that they question the existence of God. They try to prove this through searching facts how to support this theory. Another example are the scientists, they have spent almost all their lives studying and discovering new technologies or perhaps doing some experiments and inventions. What Im trying to say is that the more knowledge you have, the more critical and cynical you become. Hence, it’s difficult for you to trust an opinion or an idea for you make sure that everything is supported by a fact and that you become perfectionist. That’s why it is clearly stated in the Bible that with much wisdom comes much sorrow and the more knowledge, the more grief.

2. Pleasures are meaningless.

 Ecc. 2:10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. In this verse, the man did everything what he desires. He spoiled himself with pleasure. Everything that will satisfy his heart. He make sure that in everything he does will make him happy. But he when he evaluate all the things he has done, he realized that everything is meaningless. Sometimes, as human as we are, we tend to be egoistic or self-satisfying. We tend to seek happiness in many ways but then we still reach to that point in which our flesh wants more, it’s as if a never ending search for pleasure. We tend not to be satisfied. Once you are happy today but tomorrow changes. Our emotions still flactuates.

3. Toil is meaningless.

Ecc. 2:18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. Toil simply defines as your hardwork. Each one of us has his own dreams and aspirations for success. We work really hard to achieve it through our careers, our business, etc. But then, all of our hardwork will still be passed on the the younger generation since we can’t work for the rest our lives. There will come a time that we get old and retire from work. This means that all our hardwork now, will not be ours forever.

4. Advancement is meaningless.

Ecc. 4:13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 14The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. In other words, advancement is reaching from a low level to a higher level. How can this too is meaningless when we are talking about growth and success here? Let’s take for example the two persons mentioned in these verses. The wise young man but poor and the other is the old foolish king. In this scenario, the people under the authority of the king followed the young man (king’s successor) for he is more wiser than the king and those people who are born later will not be pleased with the successor maybe because the new generation will think that he’s leadership skills is not appropriate or applicable to them and all. Same thing in the government, people murmur about complaints and demands from their leaders. It seems, it’s a never ending cycle.

5 Riches are meaningless.

Ecc. 5:10 Whoever loves money never has enough;whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.This too is meaningless. Let’s all face the fact that everybody needs money. You’ll sound plastic if you’ll say I dont need money for how can we survive in our stay here without money? Of course we need money but this verse is trying to say to us that the love of money is meaningless. We will never be satisfied even if we have all the wealth in the world. Haven’t you notice that the more money we have the greater is our demand and the more demands we have the greater is our desire to have money. No one will ever be satisfied with this kind of lifestyle.

Now that we know that all these things are meaningless, I am not encouraging you to quit your jobs and studies and to stop aiming for success. Things that we should aim and put our focus for is in 2 Cor. 4:18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. This should be our number one priority in life for everything that we see here on earth is temporary and meaningless but on the otherhand everything we do for the Lord is meaningful and has an eternal value. So, why should we waste our time and energy for things that will not last?

Col. 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Everything that we invest for God is not time wasted but time invested!

Don’t get too excited – Go back to basic!

Days before the final exam, a student will spend some time to study his lessons in preparation. Despite of those sleepless nights of spending much time and effort of studying however he flunked the test.  Why? Because he forgot to read the instructions!

This is what happens when you have forgotten to do the basic thing. You may have invested a lot of effort to do a major task but when you forgot to do the basic thing, it may ruin everything.

There was one time I was working on an important video presentation for a friend. It took me a lot of time to do that. Slept at 2am and 3am to finish that project but then I realize I cannot able to save it because I need to buy the premium version to be able to access all the features. I was exhausted and very disappointed because I was not aware that I am just using the trial version.  Grrrrr….

Sometimes we get too excited to do a certain thing that we forget to sit down and ponder the basic things.

In the Bible.. Luke 14:28-32

The verse tells us that when a man builds a tower, he's not compulsive to work on it right away. He sits down, thinks and plans accordingly. He makes sure everything is set before he start to do the job. He calculates how much will be the cost of the project; get a good supplier with a reasonable price that can deliver the project in a span of time. He calculates how the work will be done as per the deadline.

In the same manner, when a king is about to go to war, he will sit down and do the plan; he will make sure how many warriors are needed to go the battlefield. He will do some research to prepare for the Great War.

When a person remembers the basic things, he will eventually reach and succeed in the major things. We should never underestimate humble beginnings. We might start with a scratch, with almost nothing and with hopeless scenarios but eventually, slowly but surely we will reach and achieve our goal.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1 .... There's a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.

There are some things that we cannot achieve now because we are still in the process of doing the basic things and building the foundations. The more you spend time on the basic things, the more you master it and the more you master it, the more you become an expert and when you become an expert you will not be afraid to go to the next big thing coz you know to yourself that you are prepared enough to face what lies ahead of you. You know that you have a strong background with the basic things and rooted with a strong foundation.

How to have a strong foundation? 

By building it in the word of God!

In Matthew 7:24-27 there are two types of builders; the wise and the foolish builders. The wise builds his house on the rock while the foolish builds his house on the sand.

The Rock is immovable, unshakeable and unchangeable. Meanwhile, sand is inconsistent, changeable; it separates and goes with the wind.  When you build a house in neither one of them, its foundation will be tested when the wind, storm and earthquakes come. If the building falls easily, then it means it doesn’t have strong foundation.

Same thing with our life, you are wise when you hear the word of God and put it into practice. This simply means you are building your life in a strong foundation. Ps. 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

Plant your life in the word of God for heaven and earth may pass away but God’s word will never pass away.  Temporal things such as wealth, career and relationships can diminish consequently when you build your life on these things when they perish, you will also perish. Whereas, in the Lord you will not be shaken, you will not be moved. For if God is with you, who can be against you?

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.

The key to success is to devote yourself to God. He will always be faithful to His word. He will never leave you, He will never forsake you. (Heb. 13:5) Submit your blueprint to God, and then let His will be done.

Plan as if you cannot pray and pray as if you cannot plan.