What Really Matters?

The following song was a big hit for Frankie Laine. This recording was released by Mercury Records first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on August 19, 1949 and lasted 22 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.

Up in the mornin' out on the job, work like the devil for my pay But that lucky old sun has nothin' to do

 But roll around heaven all day

Fuss with my woman toil for my kids Sweat 'til I'm wrinkled and gray

While that lucky old sun has nothin' to do But roll around heaven all day.

Can you relate? Life has a sameness about it at times, a Been there, Done That quality Each day blending into the next and sometimes we feel like we are on a never ending treadmill, life becomes one constant replay with little to differentiate from one day to the next! Granted that’s a pessimistic view of life, and I am decidedly not a pessimist, but we would be wrong to dismiss the very real feelings of routine that can sap the life out of us, and make getting up each day a chore!

The wisest man of his day, Solomon the son of King David, has a unique perspective on life. One Old Testament scholar described the author of Ecclesiastes as a “A bitter skeptic suspended over the abyss of despair!, nothing remained for Him but to submit in deep resignation to his tragic existence! - Gerhard Von Rad

I don’t see him that way; in fact I believe He is painstakingly pointing out that life without God is profoundly empty! Life with God, life in awe of God, life in surrender to God and His will, brings infinite joy and purpose! Ecclesiastes is a banner that flies in regal splendor over the castle of despair to remind us…..” That we must stop expecting earthly things to gives us lasting satisfaction, and learn to live for God, rather than for ourselves!

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1: 1-3).

The word vanity is often translated as meaningless. It’s a word we need to rap our minds around because Solomon will use it frequently (30 times) in his writings. A great way to get a grip on his thinking is to understand the word to mean smoke or vapor. The word describes the futility the hopelessness of life in a fallen world. Our lives are brief, like a puff of smoke over an open fire, like the morning mist on a body of water!

 Psalms 39:5 our days will vanish like a breath. James wrote: Life is a mist that appears for a little time and vanishes. (James 4:14). Solomon is reminding us that life is here today, gone tomorrow! We need to know right out of the blocks that Ecclesiastes is a book that will remind us time and again: “What will happen when a person chooses what the world tries to offer, instead of what God has to give”

*Now, the phrase “under the sun” is extremely important to our understanding of Ecclesiastes. “Under the sun” is also found only in the book of Ecclesiastes and nowhere else in the Bible. The Preacher uses it twenty-nine times in Ecclesiastes.

Where do we experience futility, apart from God....everywhere the sun shines! “Under the sun” refers to living in this world without taking God into account.

One commentator puts it this way: “The scene in mind is exclusively the world we can observe, and. . . Our observation point is at ground level.” So, we live under the sun. But God’s perspective, as it were, is above the sun. So, “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” The answer is, “Nothing.”

When we live our lives apart from God, we will not gain anything from all our toil. * Ecclesiastes why everything matters- Philip Graham Ryken

Were you aware that America has the highest per capita of boredom than any other country in the world? We know that by all the amusements we have: Comcast, you tube, blackberry, direct TV, Dish TV, Netflix, twittering, texting….iPod, iPhone, iTunes….

We have too many I products and not enough focus on the Great I am! Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. While technology doubles every year and a half, I am quite sure there was just as much excitement for the telegraph as there was for the internet!

 Solomon reminds us: There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. (Ecclesiastes 1:11).

We leave everything behind, what we own will eventually be owned by someone else, someone else will have your car or house keys, your possessions, your books.

What lasts?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1st Peter: 1:3-4).

Do you know the Lord?