“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (v.1)
For as long as people have walked the earth, they have searched for the meaning of life. What is our purpose? Why are we here? Two Old Testament books, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) pose that question—and provide two very different but complementary answers.
Ecclesiastes frames the answer by focusing on the mind. What is our reason for being? How can we understand our existence? When we study the Song of Songs, we will move from the mind to the heart. We are made to reason and think, but also to love and be loved.
Here in chapter 1 Solomon asks the question, “What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun” (v.3)? He describes life “under the sun” as our earthly existence, a monotonous cycle. People are born and then die. Even nature reflects this. Life is like a vapor: it cannot be contained and finally vanishes—almost like it never existed at all.
For those who believe that our earthly existence is all there is, life’s purpose is not easily apparent. Life under the sun can feel exhausting, as many search for fulfillment in experiences or in another person. Solomon had it all, everything anyone could ever want, yet he also had a great sense of emptiness, a void that could not be filled, even with all that he had. And, the further he moved from God, the emptier he began to feel.
Life really does boil down to two basic choices. We can live either to please ourselves or to please God. LORD help us all to stay close to you, to keep our eyes on you, to desire your work in our lives and not our own, that we might not be gasping at the wind.
The Truth: Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
For as long as people have walked the earth, they have searched for the meaning of life. What is our purpose? Why are we here? Two Old Testament books, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) pose that question—and provide two very different but complementary answers.
Ecclesiastes frames the answer by focusing on the mind. What is our reason for being? How can we understand our existence? When we study the Song of Songs, we will move from the mind to the heart. We are made to reason and think, but also to love and be loved.
Here in chapter 1 Solomon asks the question, “What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun” (v.3)? He describes life “under the sun” as our earthly existence, a monotonous cycle. People are born and then die. Even nature reflects this. Life is like a vapor: it cannot be contained and finally vanishes—almost like it never existed at all.
For those who believe that our earthly existence is all there is, life’s purpose is not easily apparent. Life under the sun can feel exhausting, as many search for fulfillment in experiences or in another person. Solomon had it all, everything anyone could ever want, yet he also had a great sense of emptiness, a void that could not be filled, even with all that he had. And, the further he moved from God, the emptier he began to feel.
Life really does boil down to two basic choices. We can live either to please ourselves or to please God. LORD help us all to stay close to you, to keep our eyes on you, to desire your work in our lives and not our own, that we might not be gasping at the wind.
The Truth: Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
