Life is empty...or is it?
by Bill Dumphy
When King David, the second king of Israel, died, the torch of leadership of the kingdom was passed on to his son Solomon. King David by no means lived a perfect life as king, but why should we believe he would. The best of men are still men at best. Sinful humans cannot live a perfect life. Solomon was given an opportunity by God to have anything his heart desired. 1 Kings chapter 3 gives us insight into what Solomon's heart desired:
5At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
Of all of the things Solomon could have had - riches, a long life, or safe harbor from his enemies - he instead sought wisdom. The Lord was pleased with Solomon's request for wisdom and gave him all of these other wonderful things for which he had not asked.
Like most of us do at times in our lives, Solomon got off track during his life. He focused much of his life on building wealth, chasing after women, and seeking the wrong things. Solomon was later in his life the author of the book of Ecclesiastes. In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, he writes "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity." When he uses the word "vanity", he is speaking of emptiness. He's saying everything in the end will leave you empty. Is Solomon saying that life is empty and without purpose? Not at all. If you read further into the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon goes on to state that "apart from God" all is empty.
Like many of us, Solomon spent a big portion of his life chasing after the things of this world without God as his primary focus and purpose. Look, I'm not saying that riches and pleasure are bad things in themselves. Let's face it, God created these things for his glory and to be enjoyed by his people. It's when we make these things our primary goal, essentially making them our "god" that we get off the track that God intended. If you really think deeply about this, apart from a creator God, it's really difficult to find true meaning and purpose in this short life that we have on earth. If mankind is not accountable to a higher being, then in the end our lives don't really count for anything.
Solomon may have wasted a lot of his years chasing the wrong things, but in the end he discovered that loving and glorifying God was the purpose for which he was created. You and I may feel like we've wasted a lot our years chasing the wrong things (and believe me I personally wasted a lot of mine), but I have good news for you. If you are reading this (and I assume you still have breath in your lungs if you are), it's not too late to change your primary focus. Like King David, not one of us can live a perfect life. That's why God sent Jesus - to live a perfect life on behalf of a people who could not. He died in place of sinful men and women, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, so that we could enjoy life forever with our creator in that very place. That's the gospel message and wow is that good news. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is this, "What is the chief end (or purpose) of man?" The answer to that question: "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Author and Pastor John Piper has stated it this way, "The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever".
By all means enjoy the things God created, but above all else, enjoy Him. That's the very purpose for which you were put on this earth for the short slice of eternity that he has you here. May God richly bless you as you discover your purpose in Him.
Like most of us do at times in our lives, Solomon got off track during his life. He focused much of his life on building wealth, chasing after women, and seeking the wrong things. Solomon was later in his life the author of the book of Ecclesiastes. In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, he writes "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity." When he uses the word "vanity", he is speaking of emptiness. He's saying everything in the end will leave you empty. Is Solomon saying that life is empty and without purpose? Not at all. If you read further into the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon goes on to state that "apart from God" all is empty.
Like many of us, Solomon spent a big portion of his life chasing after the things of this world without God as his primary focus and purpose. Look, I'm not saying that riches and pleasure are bad things in themselves. Let's face it, God created these things for his glory and to be enjoyed by his people. It's when we make these things our primary goal, essentially making them our "god" that we get off the track that God intended. If you really think deeply about this, apart from a creator God, it's really difficult to find true meaning and purpose in this short life that we have on earth. If mankind is not accountable to a higher being, then in the end our lives don't really count for anything.
Solomon may have wasted a lot of his years chasing the wrong things, but in the end he discovered that loving and glorifying God was the purpose for which he was created. You and I may feel like we've wasted a lot our years chasing the wrong things (and believe me I personally wasted a lot of mine), but I have good news for you. If you are reading this (and I assume you still have breath in your lungs if you are), it's not too late to change your primary focus. Like King David, not one of us can live a perfect life. That's why God sent Jesus - to live a perfect life on behalf of a people who could not. He died in place of sinful men and women, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, so that we could enjoy life forever with our creator in that very place. That's the gospel message and wow is that good news. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is this, "What is the chief end (or purpose) of man?" The answer to that question: "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Author and Pastor John Piper has stated it this way, "The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever".
By all means enjoy the things God created, but above all else, enjoy Him. That's the very purpose for which you were put on this earth for the short slice of eternity that he has you here. May God richly bless you as you discover your purpose in Him.