“Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is Meaningless.” King Solomon, son of King David, uttered these words in Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV). King Solomon was offered anything in the world by God in 1 Kings 3:5-15. He asked for wisdom to help rule his people fairly. God decided to not only give him unbelievable wisdom but made him the most powerful and richest man ever. He also had 700 wives and 300 concubines. This man had everything but he wasn’t happy.
He says: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for my labor. Yet when I surveyed all my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV).
Since I have been back from the World Race, it has been really hard to be here. The American culture is constantly striving for more. Even as I write this article, I would like a new computer. This computer has already died on me once tonight and is nearly out of memory. So please do not think I am immune to these desires!
However, we need to realize that it is not about us. There is only one thing that matters. “The Only Thing” poem below tells us what is important.
