The Validating Center

I was wonderfully surprised as I read through the book of Ecclesiastes yesterday. In the past I've been touched many times by the sense of futility that can be discerned in its pages. But yesterday I remembered the context in which Solomon wrote. He was an old man now, and had accomplished many great things in the name of God. He spent many years ruling Israel and leading it into and during its most prosperous days up to that time. There was peace, safety, blessing, riches, wisdom all because Solomon kept God at the center of all his activities, and governed according to the good precepts of His Laws. He did this not only in his duties as king, but as he oversaw the building of a mighty temple for the worship of God and the building of his own home. He rejoiced for years in the goodness of God. So why all the cynicism and sense of futility? Personally, I was struck by the fact that he wrote after he accomplished these things and served for many years. I was impressed that, yes, life can seem empty, shallow and have a deep sense of futility at times unless one learns to keep Jesus Christ at the center of all of life. Let Him and His words be the hub that holds everything together giving unity and purpose to our activities. Solomon writes several times to rejoice, and to tell yourself that your labor is good, realize is the gift of God. He says to rejoice with the wife of your youth, it is your reward for your labor under the sun. There are several such exhortations throughout the book to rejoice, be blessed, because we like everyone, will one day pass away from this world into the next. How to keep from despairing, and fight off the sense of futility that often plagues mankind, usually at the low points of life? Go about your day, your task, your job or your vision, deliberately keeping Jesus Christ at the center of it all. For like Solomon reminds us, the prime of life is fleeting, and one day we all will stand before our Lord. This is true whether we believe in Him or not. So my surprise was that, rather than finding the same old complaints I've been accustomed to reading, I found a very helpful encouragement to put Jesus first in all of life's adventures. That is the true way to find and keep meaning and fulfillment all of our days. I hope you're joining me in doing that today.