Book of Experience - Ecclesiastes

God has given us this book of Ecclesiastes the record of all that human thinking and natural religion has ever been able to discover concerning the meaning and goal of life. The arguments in this book are not God’s arguments, but God’s record of people’s arguments. The writer is Solomon, and the book is a dramatic biography of his experience and reflections while he was out of fellowship with God. Solomon may have been wise, but he did not follow his own wisdom.

The message of Ecclesiastes is that, apart from God, life is full of weariness and disappointment. The problem that faced Solomon was how he could find happiness and satisfaction apart from God (Ecclesiastes 1: 1-3). He sought the following things

·         He sought satisfaction in science (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11)

·         He sought it in Philosophy (Ecclesiastes 1: 12-18)

·         He found pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11)

·         He tried materialism (Ecclesiastes 2: 12-26)

·         He tried natural religion, wealth and morality (Ecclesiastes 5, 6, 7).

But in all these, he was not able to get an answer. The conclusion message is found in Ecclesiastes 12:13. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind”

The best and possibly good way to be wise and be with God is found in Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:1. The mention of being youth in growing up is interesting. It simply points out that in order to know God and have a life worth living, it is better to know him when you are young.  Instead of having a worldly life, with the so called best friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, and having affairs and getting ditched in life, it is always good to live a life according to the word and know about God and live according to his principles.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to live a life according to the scriptures and know God to live a holy and faithful life.