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When we are young, life is such an adventure. Life is fun, hopefully, in our childhoods. We are learning and discovering. We are growing and preparing. Then, eventually, we begin to work and try out life on our own. 

Now, responsibility begins to layer a few opportunities and burdens on us. That causes time to shift a little, speeding up overall. Somehow, it feels as though we can blink and find ourselves moving far deeper into life than we understand. 

I hope you might read all of Ecclesiastes. If you only want to sample a bit, then chapters 1, 3 and 12 might be good to explore. 

If we are paying attention and allowing ourselves to reflect a bit, eventually we begin to ponder the nuances of our life’s meaning and purpose. That is where we find the writer of Ecclesiastes. He is going to explore one overall topic for twelve chapters. That is life and death. 

You see, he has noticed a few things. For instance, life doesn’t last long. Life runs by us in a blink so often. Maybe you’ve noticed this. Along the way, change is a given. Life streams by us and often throws surprises our way. Buckle up. 

Second, he has noticed that the just and the unjust seem to suffer equally. That reality, somewhat like the writer of Job, has caught his mind’s eye. He wants to ponder the indiscriminate nature of life and suffering aloud. Third, he will meander along and make apparent to you and the readers that life without God has no discernible meaning. That one is so important to take away from Ecclesiastes as we study. 

Finally, there are good gifts that come our way. We should be sure to enjoy them because, for some, they reach a point where they can only seem to notice that bad. Life is good. This writer wants us to not lose touch with that.  

Ecclesiastes, or in Hebrew, it was known as Qohelet, the son of David. Another name for Solomon, although his authorship cannot be proven or disproven. 

The give and take of life is explored, especially as Ecclesiastes opens. The writer teases us, letting us think that what is to follow will be an indictment on life and on the way God has created things. 

As King Solomon well could, this writer confesses that he has been a ruler in the kingdom. He has had all there is to have and has sought great wisdom. By any conventional measure, he has had more of anything than most of us would allow ourselves to dream. He has had everything and was also smarter than everyone around him.

Self-indulgence has proven futile, he alleges. A man who has had everything says that absolutely nothing has added one day to his life, nor has it fulfilled him. Nothing has filled the empty spot compared with seeking purpose, meaning and perspective under God. 

Did you catch that? Nothing has filled the empty spot compared with seeking purpose, meaning and perspective under God.

I’ve told you before, but it’s been a while. Someone has said that the true cost of anything is how much of your life you give up in order to attain it. The writer of Ecclesiastes is a lot like some of us. He has been there, done that, seen it all, heard it all, bought it all and had them all. Now, he is exploring whether any of it really mattered. 

In the social media age, there is a cartoon that comes through occasionally. It has only one frame. Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a dock, but we see them only from the back. Ostensibly, their feet are dangling over the water as they gaze at the setting sun. 

Snoopy says to his master and friend, “Charlie Brown, one of these days we’re all going to die.” To which the reply is, “Yes, Snoopy. But on all the other ones we live!” I love that cartoon. That’s life. There is so much wisdom there.

At the end of the matter, it is as if we all have walked down to the banks of a flowing stream. That stream has flowed right there, by that spot, for thousands of years. 

If we take off our shoes and roll up our pants to step in, we simply join in on a flow that has been passing through that part of the stream since long before us. One which will be flowing right by there long after us.

DR. CHARLES QUALLS is senior pastor at Franklin Baptist Church. Contact him at 757-562-5135.