Get off the hamster wheel!

So, Solomon has set off to find the meaning of life. And he tried everything. Work. Pleasure. Knowledge. People. Buildings. Creations. Stuff. Money. You name it, he probably tried it.

Yet he realizes that all that is useless. What good does it do to accumulate any of those things if when you die you will eventually be forgotten too. The wealthy, the hard workers, the intellectuals, all of them will eventually fade into memory of time. Their knowledge, their wealth, their status, their stuff will be long forgotten when we die. When we die, all are the same. Solomon exclaims “the wise dies just like the fool!”

This made Solomon hate life and all that he had done because he realized it was all empty and meaningless. When we die, we are all the same before God. So, then what’s the point of all the school and hard work and jobs? Should we just sit around and do nothing?

No! Instead, we should make pleasing God the priority of our life and the rest will fall into place. If we make God the priority of our life everything we do is for Him and His glory. Everything we earn and make we know truly belongs to Him. We walk and work in this world with our eyes open to the reality of its superficial nature while the fools walk in the dark. Constantly gathering and working and gathering and working for themselves which in the end is meaningless. Nothing they collect or do will the fool be able to take with him when he dies.

So, Solomon concludes with this realization. For the one who pleases God, God will give him the spiritual blessings of wisdom, knowledge, and joy. While those who work for themselves will just be constantly working but never satisfied. God has made it to where they are just in the “business of gathering and collecting.”

So, do you feel like you’re stuck in the hamster wheel of life? Just gathering and collecting? That is God’s way of reminding you that none of that ultimately matters. What matters is what is to come and our lives only find purpose and meaning if we accept that and live according to God’s will – He will give us joy and wisdom to help us make it through life on this earth.

Get off the hamster wheel. Start living for God.