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 All of
us learn valuable lessons when we take time to look back
at our own past. The successes we had, the foolishness
we had done, the victories we’ve won and the battles we
lost…all gives us experience and insight. For some,
looking back is a happy and cheerful experience but for
others it’s a dreadful thing.
King Solomon, the wisest man ever to live on earth sees
his own life through the rear view mirror and writes a
book called Ecclesiastes. He sees how his wisdom filled
life disintegrated before his very eyes. As he looks
back and write down the lessons he had learned, we also
can learn from his life.
Man by his own efforts cannot achieve anything of
enduring significance.
Even though we work tremendously hard, if we take God
out of our lives; we cannot achieve anything of eternal
significance. It is like running on a tread mill, even
though a huge effort is put on running, there is hardly
any forward movement! We can take magnificent projects
and work on grand ideas but in the end, nothing is
ultimately significant.
We cannot hide ourselves by working towards our own
worldly ambitions; if we pursue such a goal we will
surely become frustrated. Solomon himself experienced
this frustration despite trying all that his heart
desired, and concluded his experience as ‘chasing after
the wind’
Wisdom is advantageous but has its own limitations.
Wisdom is a wonderful gift from God, whose beginning is
from the reverence for God. It is a great tool to
possess but it alone is not sufficient to lead a
fulfilling life. Wisdom without God is useless and could
make life miserable.
Solomon experienced it first hand and saw his life slip
away from God before his very eyes. He tried to fill the
‘holes’ of his life by stuffing it with logical,
investigational and aesthetic skills. He applied his
mind on to various grand schemes, to wisdom and to
folly. He understood the limitations of human wisdom and
acknowledged the awesome might of his creator who is
eternal. Wisdom is better than folly but is not the
ultimate and only God alone is a perpetual novelty.
Our lives have a purpose, if we don’t understand we will
run after our own schemes.
Man runs behind several things, and ends up vexed. But
God has a plan and purpose for every life and reason for
everything in his life. When one do not understand or
know about it, his or her days will be without any
meaning. One will end up chasing what one’s heart
desires and meddles with the affairs of other people.
Whenever one start to compare oneself with others,
frustration and bitterness brews adding to the misery of
one’s meaningless life. Meaning and purpose will start
to unravel itself only if we see with a divine
perspective and so Solomon discovered that life ‘under
the sun’ as disappointing, meaningless and purposeless.
Our efforts should not be focused on our future on
earth, because no one knows the future.
No one knows what the future holds and time moves in one
direction. Even what is going to happen in one’s life
the next moment is a mystery.
Solomon asks, when we don’t know anything about our
future, why direct all our attention and efforts towards
it, while forgetting to cherish every moment we live in.
It is a sickening feeling to many who have huge material
wealth to think about their death and who will take all
their possessions. The worldly possessions might end up
in the hands of someone who never worked or deserve. So,
it is important to keep a larger picture in mind and not
to be materialistic.
Order exists in everything and there is a time for
everything.
Everything created by God is in order although it
appears to be in apparent chaos. Human beings may not be
able to fully understand or comprehend it. Our minds and
wisdom are limited and cannot go further to explain
everything that happens around us. Our lack of
understanding to comprehend the order and timings of God
should not be interpreted as lack of order. Creation
follows the order of the creator and has a rhythm and
time of its own, fitting itself in the grand purpose of
God. We need to understand, there is a time for
everything and we cannot change God’s timing.
My friends, rich and wise Solomon wandered away from God
and later in his life did he realize the importance of
God in his life. He understood that life without God is
sad and unfulfilled. He also discovered that happiness
and prosperity will end in disaster if centred on
earthly things and is advising us to be sensible and
live a good life with God. He cautions us from going
behind unrealistic goals and senseless things but to
remember the creator God who alone can give a
fulfilling, happy and content life.
Solomon says…Remember your Creator in the days of your
youth… (Eccl. 12:1) “Fear God and keep his commandments”
(Eccl. 12:13) Do you know your Creator? Do you keep His
commandments?
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