Ecclesiastes 1

Bringing the sermon home:

Ecclesiastes starts off with a bang, calling us to wrestle with certain truths that we often try either to ignore through distractions or to deny through delusions:

1. you are going to die,
2. it could happen at any moment,
3. there’s nothing you can do about it, and
4. once you’re gone, you will soon be forgotten, having left no discernible impact upon the world you leave behind.

All of this is undeniably true, but as heavy as chapter 1 is, it hints at the key to finding peace and purpose despite these realities. The hint comes when God is first explicitly brought into the picture in verse 13. This points us to the key message of the entire book: your life is a gift given to you by God, so you should live like it.

Our approaching death calls to us, teaching us that we are not God. It’s only by listening to the testimony of death and letting God be God that we can begin to truly live. Those who demand answers about where their life is going and why it matters will be forever vexed, while those who trust that God has the answers and who seek to please Him each day will be forever blessed.

May the Lord grant each one of us "a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12), that we would "number our days", and live for Him.

... What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:14)