The Meaning of Life

Will you be satisfied with
what you did with yours?

Imagine you are on your deathbed. I want you to take an honest look at your life. Look at what the most fulfilling days have been. Were they the times when you obtained something? Do you remember the greatest times of your life as attached to receiving some great amount of money, gifts, or pleasure? These things are nice, but they are not fulfilling for long. There is no reward or prize that you can receive from any man that gives satisfaction from the perspective of the dying man. Material things are so vain.

The wisest man that ever lived, Solomon, knew this when he was dying. "Everything is meaningless, says the Teacher, completely meaningless! What do people get for all their hard work in the sun?" He wrote in Ecclesiastes all the things that he tried to do to find a satisfying life. In chapter 2, he tried wine, building huge homes for himself, planting beautiful vineyards, gardens parks, bought slaves, owned large herds and flocks, collected great sums of silver and gold, hired wonderful singers, had many beautiful women and "had everything man could desire." (v. 8)  He went on to say "Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless -- like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere."

What does matter then? Surely there are things we can be doing with our lives that give lasting satisfaction and truly matter. Solomon concludes his book by saying "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all." (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Living for God is the meaning of life. It is likely that you can see this in the memories that you pictured in your head. The times that were truly fulfilling involved loving others. Pouring time and resources into others. Preaching the gospel. Praising and worshiping the Lord. Obeying His commands. Lets make a commitment today to living with purpose. Stop wasting so much time on things that don't matter and get closer to the One that does.