APR 1

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
Memorise Ecclesiastes 1:3
“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity”

In life, we all strive to find meaning and fulfilment in the things that we do. Nobody wants to live an aimless, unfulfilled life, one full of regrets and laments. However, do we know how to find this fulfilment? Don’t we want to have a meaningful life that brings glory to God?

The book of Ecclesiastes was a book written to address these issues. It asks the right questions about life, and then seeks to find the solution. We see Solomon as he asks: what profit does a man have in all the labours which he has in this life? Does it not all end in shame and misery? He thus brings us through his journey as he experiments with life and observes the way people around him live, all in a bid to try to find fulfilment in life. It is not a direct path that he takes, for he makes many mistakes along the way in his quest for meaning in life. Yet at the end of it all, he rightly concludes that above all, we must fear God and keep His commandments, for that is truly what man was made for.

Thus as we read the book of Ecclesiastes, we have a timeless commentary on the frailty of human wisdom, and the vanity of life here on Earth if it is lived apart from God. It is a book that is highly applicable for our current atheistic age, where men refuse to acknowledge God, living lives only in pursuit of worldly pleasures. Such was the experience of Solomon, and he thus wrote the book of Ecclesiastes as a reflective and retrospective look at the vanities of life that he has observed. This is a book that is filled with practical wisdom to guide a man in any age to know the true meaning of life, and to realise that a life lived apart from God is a meaningless life.

However, it is sad to see that in every age, so many people, even Christians, throw themselves headlong into the world, and chase after the things of the world. Such was the case in the time of Solomon, of John (1 John 2:15-17), and such is the case even more so in this day and age.

As we study this book, the question that we would have to continually ask ourselves is this: Do I truly understand the meaning of life? And is my life a life of vanity, doing all things apart from God, or do I truly fear God, and desire to keep His commandments?

Thought: What profit can I have in this life?
Prayer: Lord, may this study of the book of Ecclesiastes be profitable to my spiritual life and my relationship with Thee.