Eccl. 1-3
Why is it that the heart of man is never satisfied? I mentioned yesterday that Solomon, with all that he had and did, managed to be discontent with his life. The book of Ecclesiastes, which he wrote, is evidence of that. Ecclesiastes seems to me to be a search for the meaning of life; a “what is the point” study. I believe this is something that we all question or struggle with to some degree or another at some point – or at many points – in our lives. I’m not sure if it is comforting or disquieting to know that the wisest man who ever lived had the very same struggle. However, it certainly supports his point that there is nothing new under the sun.
Solomon looked to wisdom and to every kind of pleasure and accomplishment to find some purpose. But all he found was “vanity” – there was no real substance in any of it. Solomon noted several injustices, if you will, in drawing that conclusion. One is that an increase in “good” comes with an increase in “bad”. “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” (Eccl 1:18). Another is that, when we die, all we accomplished and labored for in life just gets left to another who did not work for it and likely won’t appreciate it. A third injustice is that, as far as we can know for certain, we all have the same end. The wise and the fool, the righteous and the wicked, man and beast all die and return to dust.
Twice in these first three chapters Solomon says, “everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil” (Eccl 2:24, Eccl 3:13), because this is God’s gift to man. And He points out the eternal nature of God and all that God does, in stark contrast to the brevity of man and all of his efforts. So what I see to this point is that living life for self is empty and pointless. There is nothing of any real value gained in any of it.
However, God endures forever (Eccl. 3:14), has put eternity into man’s heart (Eccl. 3:11), and has given us the gift of joy. So what better way to spend this brief life of ours than to live it for God by finding contentment in what He has given us to do. Solomon says, “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live” (Eccl 3:12). That sounds like living content in Christ to me.
Acts 9:1-22
Saul’s stark turn-around has always amazed me. One day he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1) and a few short days later he was in the synagogues proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God (vs 20). Amazing! The thing is, Saul (Paul) knew the scripture – he knew it well. But, “although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing” (Acts 9:8). This verse actually describes his physical condition immediately after his vision on the road to Damascus, but it very aptly applies to his spiritual condition prior to this moment. I say God’s striking him with blindness at this moment was not without purpose!
Saul had three days in darkness to think and pray about what he had seen and heard. Then God gave him a vision of Ananias coming to return his sight. Next thing he knows, there’s Ananias, saying God sent him to give Saul his sight back. If Saul wasn’t convinced before, that must have sealed it for him! But God didn’t just restore Saul’s sight through Ananias. He also filled him with the Holy Spirit. “And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes” (vs 18) and he was able to see – not just physically, but spiritually. I imagine that all that scripture he had spent his life studying suddenly became clear to him.
And the irony continued as Saul, who probably did more than any other single man to persecute Christ’s Church, ended up suffering more than probably any other single man to build Christ’s Church. This stuff is better than all the clever twists and turns in a really good novel. You just can’t make this stuff up!