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JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE: ECCLESIASTES Day 1 Ecclesiastes 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3 What profit hath a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also arises, and the sun goes down, and hastes to his place where he arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. 8 All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 10 Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. 12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. Have you ever felt like life is pointless? Have you wondered what you’re doing here to do the same thing every day? You’re born, you live, you work, you play, you die. Every day is the same. Solomon turned from proverbs to questions. He was the wisest man who ever lived. He searched for the answers you ask every day. He did everything his heart desired in both wisdom and folly and found everything a vexation of spirit. Solomon did what many people don’t do. He took his questions to God. He found a few discoveries in his search for understanding. He found you couldn’t make crooked things straight. He found there is nothing new under the sun. What was, will be again. He found there is grief and sorrow in wisdom and understanding. As Christians, you have the same questions. It was those questions that helped draw you to the cross of Jesus Christ because there had to be more to life than just doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. As Christians, you know you can’t fix the world, but you can fix yourself. You can do what Jesus taught you – love God, love your neighbor, love yourself. When you do those three things life doesn’t seem so difficult and meaningless any longer. You have your first purpose. Turn your vexations into purpose. Let’s pray: Father, help me see my purpose in the world you created. Help me find the meaning behind all my troubles and help me fix my problems. I can’t fix them alone. I need your help. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 1 August 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay