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Ecclesiastes 2:17
Comments
Here is the frustration of a man who wants happiness from here and now. Bitterness so often comes with the inability to derive satisfaction from earthly pleasures when they are sought without God. All in this book is evangelistic from start to finish.Coming to the end of his search and having found nothing of any lasting value, no goal worth striving for, no occupation that can bring satisfaction, no consolation for living in this mortal state, Solomon expresses his contempt for life itself. That which is naturally to be regarded as the greatest possession we have and which men instinctively defend at any cost, is, he concludes, worthless. If it is merely carnal life without any life in the soul, without that life which comes only from the Lord, then it is not real life at all. He began to despise life because everywhere he looked, every activity his mind considered – and the human mind is endlessly inventive in searching for meaning – was only chasing after wind, vexation of spirit. This deeply unwelcome conclusion must to some extent become the conclusion of each one of us if we are ever to seek the Lord. There is nothing else that can shake us free from the cloying attachment we have to this world other than a complete disillusionment with its passing pleasures. This was the conclusion of the prodigal son when he came to an end of himself and saw how empty were the riches and the trifles he had set his heart on.
Application
If we start to become sickened with life, this may be the first signs that God is beginning to work in our lives and to wake us up. That deep disillusionment with this world and its pleasures may mean that we are beginning to see through its deception and our soul is rebelling against a diet of meaninglessness. It is protesting that it needs more than the worldling’s fading pleasure. If this begins to happen to us, we must pray fervently for God to show us what has true value. The worst thing that we can do is to persist in our rebellious pathway and plunge back into the world in an attempt to drown out our misgivings.
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