What Matters Most? #One

I have discovered that the answer to that is age dependent. Think of your preschool-aged son... what matters most to him?  Getting his needs met-pants changed when they're wet, building the best Lego rocket ship, seeing his mom as soon as she gets within range at school pickup time.  These are the things that matter most.

 

Same boy a dozen years later wonders if he will make the freshman soccer team at the high school.  Will he be quick enough, his moves enough to impress the coaches?  Oh, and at school, he hopes he doesn't say something dumb in front of his peers ... right?  These are the things that matter most to him.

 

And now, that same man many years hence, has crested the wave of what he thought would be the most meaningful career and pursuit, and yet, he comes up lacking.  'Really?  Is this all there is?' he asks himself.  He remembers from his youth something in the recesses of his mind, and goes to the Holy Scriptures to read, "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!"

The writer continues, "What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.  Sometimes people say, "Here is something new!" But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don't remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now... I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless-like chasing the wind.

What is wrong cannot be made right.
    What is missing cannot be recovered.1

 

Finally, he says, "Here now is my final conclusion:

Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty."2 

 

Was the king, writer of Ecclesiastes, correct? Is everything meaningless?  Hmmm.

The answer:  Absolutely not!!

 

Sooner or later, the preschool boy become high school freshman and then accomplished businessman realizing something is still missing seeks true meaning in life . . . as did King Solomon, Ecclesiastes.  ->What matters most is knowing the purpose of our lives--why we are here, where we are going, and our uniqueness in God.  God reveals all of these things to us in his Word ... the unfailing truths of Scripture.  Absolute truth.

 

Since we are finite beings we must access something bigger and higher and greater than ourselves, and that something is a someone - the God of the universe.

 

And so I close with what Jeremiah said, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."3 Truly 

finding God is what matters most. 

'Want more?  We will next look at how that which was uttered and written down thousands of years ago came to pass, and is yet in our generation coming to pass. And is yet in our generation, coming to pass, thereby showing the credibility of our God and his Word.

 

1 - Ecclesiastes 1.2-11

2 - Ecclesiastes 12.13

3 - Jeremiah 29.11-13