Everything Is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time. 11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
at which they toil under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time. 11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
the more knowledge, the more grief.
So, as you can see, I'm starting to go through Ecclesiastes.
The devotional book I have says that the first two chapters in Ecclesiastes are Solomon's personal experiences. Solomon talks a lot about how everything is meaningless, and how it's not worth it to attempt to find happiness in the world. He learned this from his own experiences... Just the whole tone that Solomon sets in Ecclesiastes makes me rethink my priorities. Am I merely seeking to be fulfilled by the useless things this world holds? A question I asked myself is if Solomon says everything is meaningless, than what is there that has meaning? Just a little question that made me think. It's amazing how much time and money we waste chasing after things that will never satisfy us. You know those quizzes on facebook, where it will tell you your chances of getting married, and then it will tell you the average time you will spend going to the bathroom... and it's a BIG number! So, if we supposedly are going to spend days and days and DAYS of our lives just going to the bathroom, than think about how many days and weeks and months of our lives we waste doing NOTHING! Doing nothing for anyone but ourselves. How many days do you think we would spend watching TV? A Lot. How about on the computer? A lot. Now what about reading the Word? Um. The number is too embarrassingly low to mention.
Oh. And in verses 16-18 they remind me of the latest Indiana Jones movie. The evil guy (his name escapes me at the moment) puts the last skull in place, and he says that he wants to know everything the aliens know. So, they pour all of their knowledge into him. The knowledge is so much the the evil guy basically explodes into dust. Or something like that.... Just thought I would share that with you all ;)
So yeah. Spend the time you have on what's worthwhile.
That's my thoughts.
- Mallory
- Mallory
