Disgusted with Life???

Last weekend, we went with the youth for the annual ski retreat.  Of course, I don't ski so I just hang out with the youth that don't either.  The speaker really convicted me though.  Over the course of the weekend he spoke on studying the Bible on our own and not simply relying on what the pastors or teachers at church tell us.  I have known how important it is to study on our own for a long time and I really hope the youth listened to what he was saying because our faith is built on our relationship with Christ - and that relationship will not grow unless we are studying on our own.  As someone who has grown up in church, it is very easy for me to know answers to "Sunday School" questions - and I still struggle with studying the Bible every day - I am very sporatic with it.  I will even admit that at times I do not go into great depth in studying and going over the lessons for my youth class because I assume I know what we will be talking about since I've grown up in church.  God really convicted me about my study time with Him.  So I am trying to get back on track with that and to draw nearer to Him each day.

I got back to my study on Ecclesiates that I have neglected for awhile.  Again, I was using Warren Wiersbe's commentary Be Satisfied.  I read chapter 2 of Ecclesiates.  The title of this section of the commentary was called "Disgusted with Life."  I think all of us have been disgusted with life at some point in our lives - either something happens that we hate or we feel helpless or we feel like there is no point at times. 

In the first part of the chapter (verses 1-11), Solomon is testing life.  He decided to test his heart to see how he would respond to two very common experiences of life -- enjoyment and employment.  Verses 1-3 focus on the enjoyment aspect of life.  He specifically mentions wine and laughter as sources of pleasure in his experiment.  But when the party was over - his heart was still dissatisfied and empty.  There is nothing wrong with innocent fun, but the person who builds his life only on seeking pleasure is bound to be disappointed in the end.  They will be disappointed because pleasure seeking is usually a selfish endeavor and selfishness destroys true joy; they will reach a point of diminishing returns because each time they seek this kind of pleasure it will not be as satisfying as the last time; and this kind of pleasure only appeals to a part of a person and ignores the total being.  True pleasure not only brings delight, but also builds character by enriching the total person.  We need to remember this -- worldy pleasures will fade -- Pastor actually spoke about that this morning - how the thrill of success of pleasure in this world will fade as time goes on, but success in Christ will never fade and that pleasure is eternal. 

Next, Solomon looks at employment in verses 4-11.  He got involved in all kinds of projects, hoping to discover something that would make life worth living.  He was still unhappy because activity alone does not bring lasting pleasure.  He found delight in his labor (vs. 10), but afterward he only saw vanity and vexation of spirit (vs. 11).  He was not condemning work itself - he was saying that work alone cannot satisfy the human heart, no matter how successful that work may be.  I completely understand this point - especially in regards to law school.  A lot of times I stress myself out over getting all my work done that I need to for my classes and I think I will never have enough time to do it all - but I always do, but every time I stress out and let that feeling take over myself and my attitude towards others reflects that.  I need to keep in mind that no matter what I do in law school or in any work I have, that that alone will never bring me true joy and pleasure or satisfaction in life.

Solomon next focused on how he hated lifes in verses 12-23.  He looked at his wisdom and his wealth in light of the certainty of death.  He considered his wisdom in verses 12-17.  He saw that both wise men and foolish men die - so what was the value of wisdom.  The wise man sees that death is coming and lives accordinly, while the fool walks in darkness and is caught unprepared.  He also saw that both types of men were also forgotten over time (vs. 16).  Life seemed unrational and futile to Solomon, but it was still better than death.  The Christian should "love life" (1 Peter 3:10; Psalm 34:12ff), seeking to put the most into it and getting the most out of it, to the glory of God -- even when times are hard or we feel depressed - we need to love and cherish the life God has given to us and live it to the fullest for him - every moment is gift. 

Solomon then considered his wealth is verses 18-23.  He hated the wealth that resulted from his toil.  There were three reasons he was disgusted with his wealth: (1) we can't keep it (vs. 18); (2) we can't protect it (vs. 19-20); (3) we can't enjoy it as we should (vs. 21-23) - we do all the work and then leave the wealth to someone who didn't even work for it.

Finally, Solomon accepted life in verses 24-26.  This is the first of six conclusions in the book of Ecclesiastes - each of which emphasizes the importance of accepting life as God's gift and enjoying it in God's will.  He is saying that we need to thank God for what we do have, and enjoy it to the glory of God.  The enjoyment of the blessings was God's gift to us - vs. 24.  The important thing is that we seek to please the Lord (vs. 26) and trust Him to meet every need in our lives. 

This chapter completes the four arguments that Solomon has presented to prove that life is not worth living:
           1. Monotony of life (1:4-11)
           2. Vanity of wisdom (1:12-18)
           3. Futility of wealth (2:1-11)
           4. Certainty of death (2:12-23)

All of these arguments are true when we look at life under the sun and do not look at it from God's perspective.  Without God, life is meaningless - we live and we die - that's it.  With God, everything we do on earth counts for eternity and we should live every moment for the glory of God - that is our purpose and that is our calling -- but how many of us really do that?  How many of us just go through the motions of life and aren't really living life?  How many of us can't wait for the day to end or for the weekend to come and forget to live every moment - whether during the work week or the weekend - with eternity in mind???