30 Days - an Overview of the Bible in Just Thirty Daysნიმუში

Life's Great Riddle

Ecclesiastes 1:12 - 2:11

People are searching for purpose and meaning in life. Albert Camus, the French novelist, essayist and playwright said, ‘Man cannot live without meaning.’ The writer of Ecclesiastes, in the shoes of the great King Solomon three thousand years ago, speaks about the search for meaning without God. He looks at three secular philosophies by which many still live their lives today.

1. Enlightenment

He searches for ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’. There is nothing wrong with this; indeed, reason and science are vital and complementary to the Christian faith. But they only answer the questions ‘when?’ and ‘how?’ – not the ‘who?’ and ‘why?’ To seek knowledge apart from God can only be a ‘chasing after the wind’.

True wisdom is found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul tells us that in him ‘are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’.

2. Enjoyment

Hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure is the highest good and purpose of humanity. It can be a form of escapism. The writer tries laughter. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does not provide meaning. He tries stimulants just as many try to escape through alcohol or drugs today. Then he tries music. Then sexual pleasure. In fact, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 mistresses! Yet all this still did not satisfy.

Stephen Covey, in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, sums up the futile pursuit of pleasure: ‘Innocent pleasures in moderation can provide relaxation for the body and mind and can foster family and other relationships. But pleasure, per se, offers no deep, lasting satisfaction or sense of fulfilment. The pleasure-centred person, too soon bored with each succeeding level of “fun”, constantly cries for more and more. So the next new pleasure has to be bigger and better, more exciting, with a bigger “high”. A person in this state becomes almost entirely narcissistic, interpreting all of life in terms of the pleasure it provides to the self here and now.’ The more you seek pleasure, the less you find it. True joy and pleasure are found in a relationship with God. As the psalmist writes:

‘You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand’.

3. Enrichment

Materialism is a tendency to prefer material possessions to spiritual values. In his search for meaning the writer tries building projects, houses, having a large staff, possessions, money, greatness, success and fame, work and career. Yet none of this satisfies.

Enrichment is to be found not in materialism but in Jesus. The apostle Paul discovered for himself that everything else was ‘rubbish’ compared to Jesus Christ. He wrote, ‘Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…’.

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes raises questions that the New Testament answers. Meaning and purpose are to be found not ‘under the sun’ but ‘in the Son’. If you seek enlightenment, enjoyment and enrichment for and by themselves, they will be as elusive as the wind. You will never find them. But if you seek God, you will find them all. Jesus said, ‘Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’.

What are your goals in life? Why not decide today to make your first ambition ‘his kingdom and his righteousness’? Then you will find true wisdom, solid joy and lasting riches. As you seek to pursue Jesus above all else, I invite you to speak to him in the words of Richard of Chichester:

Prayer

O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.

References

© Nicky Gumbel, 2024

This reading plan is adapted from the book 30 Days by Nicky Gumbel. It is published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK, and by HarperCollins Christian Publishing in the USA.