“When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, every hidden and secret thing, whether it is good or evil.”
In the movie City Slickers (1991) a group of men sign up for a real life cattle drive in cowboy country. Billy Crystal is one of those men whose life if not all together and is hoping this crazy idea of being a part of cattle drive will somehow sort those life issues out. Curly, played by Jack Palance, is an old cowboy who leads the drive. Rough and crude around the edges, Curly steers this group of city slickers on a wild cattle drive. While on the drive, Billy Crystal and Curly are having a conversation about life. This was a rare moment that Curly actually shows his feelings and takes on the form of, well, a real human. Before this chat, he stood tall in the saddle, stoic in nature, without most human characteristics. Curly tells Mitch that the secret to life is “one thing” as he holds his finger in the air. Mitch asks in bewilderment, “What is that?” He just smiles and says, “That’s what you have to figure out.”
Solomon was the Curly of his day. He was standing stoic as the king of Israel. God had gifted him wisdom while facing the daunting task of being the third king of Israel after his father, David, had passed away. Because of this humble request, the Lord also gave Solomon the wealthiest kingdom anyone had ever seen for his time. He expanded Israel’s borders and increased their alliances with other kingdoms. He built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and established the hub of Jewish worship that is still in effect today. It can be said that the whenever Solomon spoke, every word was a proverb of wisdom that all should ponder. He was, as the Bible tells us, the wisest man who ever lived.
Ecclesiastes was written while Solomon was an older man. The greatest kingdom on earth, he was the king. The most wealth anyone could have dreamed of, he had. The life of no boundaries, he lived. Never being in want of anything was his whole life. This is the man who dove into all things to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 1:13) The opening verse in his expository writing of “all things” is the word meaningless with an explanation point. While the parting words of this book are “fear God and keep his commandments”.
If you have been on a search for what is the meaning of life, you are not alone. If you have been wondering how this life is going to lead to anything positive, you are not alone. Like Solomon, you have went in search of the meaning of life. You may have searched for it in drugs and abuse of all kinds of substances. You may have searched for it relationships. You may have sat in depression grasping for the meaning of life. Some may have even taken on the task that Solomon took on which was to try and test out everything under the heavens to find that precious meaning of life. All this only to find out that what Solomon found out, it is all meaningless!
I can say with the utmost certainty that life has meaning in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament is filled with great stories of people, Jewish people, prophets, and great men attempting to find the same thing Solomon was seeking after in the world and they all concluded the same thing. All of them ended up pointing to God. From Genesis to Micah there are stories of men and prophets seeing God’s hand move in response to their prayers through Jesus. He was sent to us as an atoning sacrifice for all of the worlds sin so we can all be with the Father in heaven. Without Christ everything is meaningless.
Solomon was given the task of testing this and his expository book about life without God is Ecclesiastes. Wisdom drips from everything he writes but in the end, the conclusion is this: “Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind.” If you have not come to this conclusion in your life, maybe Solomon can save you some bitter steps. Get to know the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the author and perfector of your faith and He is waiting for you. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…” (Rev 3:20)
Prayer: Father help us to recognize that this life apart from you is meaningless. We stive and push at things that are of no value at the end of the day. Help us to find you and make you the center of our lives today. Let us never say that life is meaningless but remember that you are in the middle of all things. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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