“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 2:11
When I lived life for myself, I was never satisfied. No amount of money, no amount of winning, no worldly gain and no material possession was enough for me. I always needed more! That all changed when I found the Lord and began living for Him, because a moment in His presence made all else pale in comparison.
My wife and I bought ourselves some new furniture the other day, and as we sat in the living room and admired how the home was coming together, we began talking about how meaningless it all was without God. If this increase wasn’t from Him, what use is it? If the blessings we’re enjoying didn’t come from His pleasure in our obedience, where’s the joy in having them? We were made to serve and worship the Lord, and when we pursue meaning, worth, and purpose in anything else we will find ourselves constantly unsatisfied.
When I think back on the days following the sale of our first home, it was the way the Lord worked that leaves me in awe, not the profit we made. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psa. 107:8). When I look back on my life in general, it’s the moments that God worked, spoke, or acted that I remember most vividly. That the eternal God would take notice of us at all is a wonder!
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
