"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Ecclesiastes 1: 2
A few weeks ago, I was taking an evening walk at a park near my home when something caught my eye. I saw a man playing fetch with his dog. I would have thought nothing of it, except when I came back an hour later, the man and the dog were still in the same area playing the same game of fetch. Over and over again he threw the ball, and over and over again the dog fetched it. I exited the park wondering “What’s the point? (Hold it dog lovers, I am getting there.)” No doubt they would be there the following day, week, month and year playing this game of fetch all over again. It all seemed so futile
Life can sometimes feel like a game of fetch. You go to work every day bring back a paycheck, pay the bills and then you repeat the same process every day, every week, every year. Sometimes the rhythm can feel like a game of fetch. Perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering, “What’s the point?” Maybe you’ve found yourself asking this same question about the other circumstances you face. What’s the point of staying in a marriage where you feel alone? What’s the point of staying in a job that aggravates your spirit and makes you feel like a worthless hired hand? What’s the point of trying to patch up a feud with family members who don’t seem to care twopence about you? What’s the point of reaching out to neighbors who want to be left alone? What’s the point of living any longer when you are in unbearable pain and life seems so hopeless? “What’s the point?” is a question common to humanity.
Solomon appears to ask this same question in Ecclesiastes even though he seemed to have it all. This chasing after pleasure, wealth, power and even wisdom, Solomon says, is a mere chasing after the wind. And there’s none better than Solomon to remind us of this truth. After all, he had it all; 700 wives and 500 concubines. In addition, Solomon had so much money that it is said, he would instruct his money counters to throw the small bills away. And yet despite all these worldly possessions, Solomon declares it is all meaningless; mere vanity. Even Solomon wrestles with the question, “What’s the point?”
That game of fetch seems pointless and repetitive until you consider the intimate relationship that exists between the dog and its owner. The dog fetches the ball to please its owner. Likewise, our lives can only make sense when we live in intimate relationship to God and stand in awe of him (Ecclesiastes 5:1). Our lives can only have meaning when we are crucified with him, and the sole aim of our lives is to please him. Like Solomon, you will discover that neither pleasure, wealth, power of wisdom will bring satisfaction. Only an intimate relationship with God will. Do not delay, make him the point of your existence today.
Father Almighty, you are the Alpha and the Omega; the first and the last. Without you I am nothing, so reign in me today and every day. Amen.