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Ecclesiastes Study -- Seeking God, Seeking Ourselves

By Ben Mester

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Published: 09Feb2010
Word count: 582
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The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is one of the most fascinating books to read and study. What it says about life and the human condition is just as relevant in today's society as it was when it was first written almost 3000 years ago, making it one of the oldest books of the Bible. One of my favorite verses, which still speaks powerfully today, comes in the beginning of chapter 6. He says "I have seen another evil under the sun and it weighs heavily on men. God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them."

Isn't that mentality so indicative of our present culture? How many countless times have we heard superstars, with everything in the world, break down and admit that even with all they've done and attained, they still haven't found meaning in life. I think of the famous Tom Brady, at the height of his career asked by an interviewer about his life, and he responded that whatever real life is, he still hadn't found it.

Hearing testimonies like that one and reading verses like the one in Ecclesiastes, it made me think about my life a lot differently at an early age. As a high schooler growing up in a big city, I wanted what everyone wanted: to grow up, have a house, a good job and make lots of money. That's just what people do. And yet, these kinds of notions kept creeping into my mind asking me "is that really all that life's about? Is that guy with the big house and good job really happier than me?"

And the answer, I found, was no. And it makes sense. For all of the physical possessions that we have in life, we ourselves are the ones who assign meaning to them. A jet ski would only be meaningful to me if I could derive some kind of satisfaction from being out on the open water with the wind in my face. That's why most people don't jet ski, because they don't find it meaningful to be in that kind of scenario.

So the question must be asked: If we're the ones who give meaning to the things we possess, then how could we ever expect that having lots of money and lots of things would ever provide satisfaction to our lives? It's seems pretty obvious when you look at it from that standpoint doesn't it?

But American society will never tell you that. They'll tell you that if you really want to live your life to the full, you need to have ambition, you need to strive for financial freedom and independence. But financial freedom and independence are just a means to an end, not the end itself.

Can we really not come up with a better system in this country than to get ourselves educated for 25 years, just to spend the next 30 years paying for a place to sleep, saving up enough money so that we can finally retire for a decade, or two if we're really healthy. There has to be a better way. I think one of the first steps is just to realize that possessions can never bring meaning or satisfaction into our lives. But that's a big step, not one easily taken in our modern age. But that's why I love books like Ecclesiastes. They show us that not much has changed, even in 3000 years.

I hope you enjoyed these thoughts from my Ecclesiastes study, and what seeking God and seeking ourselves means in this current day and age.

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