Have you ever noticed how just living life, drains the life out of you? A bit of a paradox, but you know what I mean. We all want to live a life that’s worth living, but how can we do that, with all the “stuff” we have going on?   The Vanity of Life My hunch is that we all want to have a life that’s worth living. I mean, you don’t have to think too much about all that do you? If we weigh up our lives, each one of us, there are things that are worthwhile and enjoyable and then there are things that we would rather not have there but I guess we can live with and then there are things that are downright awful that we just wish would go away forever. And depending on the mix between those three – the good, the mediocre and the bad – we either feel as though our lives are worth living or they’re not. The problem is – and this is a universal problem; it’s a problem that each one of us faces – as time goes by, the mix, the balance between the good, the mediocre and the bad changes; our circumstances change, our emotions change, our health goes up and down. And sooner or later, the old body will give out. And so if we live our lives based on our circumstances; if we judge the value of our life based on what is going on and how we are reacting to it, well, we are pretty much at the mercy of the elements. And so if I were to ask you right at this moment, do you have a life that’s worth living, what would your answer be? And not only that, what are you basing that answer on – how you feel, what’s going on in your life, or something else? That’s what we are going to be tackling the next few weeks on the programme – the value of the life that you are living – but in quite an unusual way. I say unusual because we are going to go to what I think frankly, is simply one of the most extraordinary Books of the Bible. It’s the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes. It was written by King Solomon, we believe – one of the wisest men who ever, ever walked the planet. In fact, when Solomon was a young man, God gave him the opportunity to ask Him for anything that he wanted. This is how it happened. I’m reading from Second Chronicles chapter 1, verse 7: God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I should give you.” Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to my father David, and have made me succeed him as king. O Lord God, let your promise to my father David now be fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come to in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?” God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honour, or the life of those who hate you, and you have not even asked for long life, but you have asked me for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you might rule my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge will be granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honour, such as none of the kings had before you, and none after you shall ever have the like.” So the wisdom of Solomon was actually the wisdom of God. He spends a lifetime serving God as king – diligently working as the King of Israel. But later on in life … later in life things go a bit awry. He starts to worship idols, he gets carried away with his wealth and all his possessions and all his wives and he becomes something of a confused, bitter and twisted old man. This Book, Ecclesiastes is extraordinary because it’s written is this later state of Solomon and you can see his wisdom interwoven with disillusionment. What makes this Book totally extraordinary is the fact that it is in the Bible at all. But it’s there for you and for me to show us what happens when we take our eyes off God and go chasing after other things. It is a powerful Book and it’s one that at different times in our lives, I think we all relate to. So, this is how Solomon kicks it off, the opening narrative, if you will, of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Have a listen. I wonder how much of this resonates with you – Ecclesiastes chapter 1, beginning at verse 1: The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to its place where it rises again. The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run into the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, they will continue to flow. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it can be said, “See, this in new?” It has already been, in the ages before us. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.” Do you see where Solomon is coming from? He has spent a life time doing his best; exercising his wisdom and ruling over Israel and he is coming to the end of it all, asking himself, "So, what’s the point? Why did I work so hard?" We are really just on some great big cosmic treadmill – the wind blows around in circles, the rivers run into the ocean but the ocean never fills up, the sun goes up, comes down; goes up, comes down; goes up, comes down and … “Is there anything new under the sun? No!” he concludes. "And when we die, no one is going to remember us." Great! Brilliant! So what was the point of all that, huh? I love … I absolutely love the fact that God has this particular Book in the Bible, especially, since, as we will see later, Solomon never really comes up with an answer to his dilemma. He has a few suggestions along the way – but really, he never nails it. And I think … I think a lot of people are living their lives just like Solomon. You look at your life and it goes round and round and round and round the same mulberry bush and really, nothing ever changes. Our hair goes grey, our skin gets old and wrinkly but fundamentally, nothing ever changes. Some days are good; some days are okay; some days are rotten but at the end of it all, as life heads into its last stages – as was the case with Solomon here – what was the whole point to it? Was it really a life worth living? I mean, come on, really? On the one hand, being at that point is pretty tragic. On the other that point of futility, of vanity, is exactly where many, many people are right now in their lives. Oh, we kind of try to sweep it under the carpet and ignore it, but it’s there and if we were truly honest with ourselves, many people would be saying right now, just like Solomon: Vanity of vanities! Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? And let me say this from the bottom of my heart: if you are in that place at the moment, then that’s the very question … the very question that should be asking yourself. It’s time to bring this to a head; it time to stop ignoring that sense of futility; that sense of, "My life has no value; is of no consequence. Like a thin vapour; here today, just and gone tomorrow," and to do something about it. That’s why over these next few weeks, in this series of messages that I’ve cal...

Released on 21 Feb 2021