The Real Reason

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

─ Matthew 11:28 NIV

When you open the Bible, you often expect for hope to jump out at you in the words, but at first glance, that’s not always the case. The first two chapters of Ecclesiastes may surprise you. Written by the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon’s words can come across as skeptical and pessimistic, at first. It’s important to understand where he’s coming from and why he takes this point of view to instruct and teach.

As we look at our verse today, he says:

• Everything is weary and tiresome.
• No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied.
• No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
• History merely repeats itself. Nothing is truly new; it has all been done or said before.
• How do you know it didn’t exist long ages ago?
• We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here.

With all that we’ve been through this year with the global pandemic, we might feel restless and dissatisfied, and easily relate to the words Solomon is sharing.

But as we look deeper and read further, Solomon is challenging us today, as well as those he spoke to long ago, to find our true and lasting meaning in all we do in God alone. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to help us realize our confidence in our own efforts, abilities and righteousness are meaningless because our faithfulness to God is the only reason we live.

Today’s One Thing

Step back and look back over your life. Ask God to give you a truthful reflection. How important is serving God in light of everything else?

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