The Search for Meaning

[Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26]

I’m not sure how many of you know who Deion Sanders is, but he is a man who lived out many young boys’ dream. Deion Sanders played in the NFL for 14 years as a Defensive Back. He made the Pro Bowl 9 out of those 14 years. He played in two Super Bowls and won both of them. He also played Major League Baseball and played in a World Series. He is the only person who has ever played in both the Super Bowl and World Series. In 2011 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Like I said, he lived out many young boys’ dream. 

After one of his Super Bowl wins, he went out and bought a Lamborghini and rented the nicest room in town. He was on cloud nine. He had accomplished everything he had ever dreamed of. Yet, as he laid in bed and his mind began to wander, he found himself thinking, “Is this it? I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplish. It’s amazing, but what about tomorrow? What about the rest of my life? Everything I’ve been pursuing is really meaningless…” 

The author of Ecclesiastes decides to pursue this path as well. He says, “I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”” (Ecclesiastes 2:1–2, NIV). He decided that he would pursue pleasure. He would pursue it with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He had the money and resources to do and get whatever he wanted. He could truly chase whatever pleasure he wanted. Nothing was going to hold him back. In the end, like Deion Sanders, he realized it was all meaningless. 

He said, “I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.” (Ecclesiastes 2:3, NIV). He begins his search with wine. He says he embraced it. He tried to prevent himself from getting too drunk—he wanted to keep his wits about himself. So, he drank and embraced folly.

I still remember a conversation I heard at the grocery store a few years ago. There was a group of young adults who had a lot of energy and were buying a bunch of groceries. I could tell they were preparing for a party. Then heard one of them trying to get everyone excited about the party. He shouted, “Who’s ready to go get STUPID!!” I remember wondering why that sounded like a good idea, why it was appealing, and why that was motivation. The author of Ecclesiastes decided to get stupid and concluded it was all meaningless, pointless, a waste of time.

So, he pursued something else: “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.” (Ecclesiastes 2:4–6, NIV). Rather than making himself stupid, he decided to build things. He built beautiful things—things that would last a long time. He built beautiful gardens. He built a massive house. Yet, in the end it was meaningless, pointless, a waste of time. 

So, he built a large business: “I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.” (Ecclesiastes 2:7–8, NIV). He created the greatest business in the history of Jerusalem. He made a name for himself and everyone looked up to him. He was the richest man in Jerusalem. Yet, it was all meaningless, pointless, a waste of time. 

So, he pursued the arts and sensuality. He said, “I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.” (Ecclesiastes 2:8, NIV). Still meaningless, pointless, a waste of time. 

After pursuing pleasure with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength he concludes, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:9–11, NIV). He became greater than anyone before him. He pursued everything he wanted. He withheld no pleasure from himself. He even enjoyed the work. Yet, the enjoyment faded and he realized it was all meaningless. It’s like chasing after the wind. In the end he really accomplished nothing. 

This is the trap of the pursuit of pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure is definitely the driving motivation behind much of our culture. Yet, we’re not the only culture in history that has been obsessed with pleasure. As people have pursued pleasure over the centuries, they have realized it’s like chasing the wind. You’re always pursuing it but never catching it. If you make pleasure your ultimate goal and never find it, you live a life of frustration. If you make pleasure your ultimate goal and receive it, you’re destined to a life of boredom. What’s left? That’s what Deion Sanders realized that night.

So, the author changes gears a little bit. Since the pursuit of pleasure ended in meaninglessness, now he’s going to pursue wisdom. He says, “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.” 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. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” (Ecclesiastes 1:16–18, NIV). He found out that the more he knew, the more grief and sorrow he had. He was sorrowfully aware of the problems and issues surrounding him and they brought grief to his heart. 

Yet, he noticed—to some degree—it was better to live wisely than foolishly. He says, “I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.” (Ecclesiastes 2:13–14, NIV). He noticed that the wise in this world walk in the light while the foolish walk in darkness. That’s better. 

Yet, even though he noticed it was better to live wisely than foolishly, he also noticed that the wise and the foolish end up in the same place. “Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!” (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16, NIV). The wise and the fool both die. Even if the wise has some better living for his short time on earth, he will still die just like the fool. So, what’s the point? It’s all meaningless, pointless, a waste of time. 

So what’s the result of his pursuits? He has pursued pleasure with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He’s pursued wisdom with all of his being. Yet, in the end he says, “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17–21, NIV). The pursuit of pleasure and the pursuit of wisdom resulted in him hating his life and living in despair because he realized it was all meaningless, pointless, a waste of time.

It’s interesting to listen to what people think is the problem in our world. If you remove God from the picture, what is wrong with the world? What needs to be fixed? What’s the solution? If you pay attention to what many people are saying—those who’ve rejected God—they are saying the problem is that people don’t have enough and they don’t know enough. That’s what’s wrong with the world. People don’t have enough and don’t know enough. So, if we educate them and help them have more stuff, things will be better. We’ll solve the problems of the world. After the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes, we should be fully aware that this is FAR from the truth. The ultimate pursuit of pleasure and wisdom only leads to the hatred of life and despair. It only leads to a life that is meaningless, pointless, a waste of time. 

So, what do we need to do? In the last couple verses of this chapter, the author changes gears. Rather than talking about what happens “under the sun”—apart from God—he mentions “the hand of God.” He says, “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24–25, NIV). When we look beyond this world, and recognize that there is a God, how are we to live in this world? He says, we can eat and drink and find satisfaction in the gifts God has given us. Apart from God we will find NO SATISFACTION and NO ENJOYMENT. 

Notice what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Since the pursuit of pleasure and the pursuit of wisdom are meaningless apart from God, don’t pursue them. Stop wasting your time.” Many Christians over the years have said this. The pursuit of pleasure on this earth is futile apart from God, so don’t pursue it here. That’s not what he says. He says enjoy the gifts of God in this life. Enjoy the food God has given you. Enjoy the drinks God has given you. Enjoy the work God has given you. 

He also doesn’t say, “Since these things are gifts of God, indulge in them. Go crazy. Eat as much as you want. Drink as much as you want. Work as much as you want.” There are some Christians who fall into that trap. They think, “Hey, these are the gifts of God. Eat, Drink, and be Merry. Do whatever you want because you’re forgiven.” That mentality will only lead you down the path to despair and hatred of life because you’re no longer pursuing God, but pursuing the gifts—just like he did apart from God. 

Rather, he says we should ENJOY the gifts of God. We need to receive these things as GIFTS from God. When we receive something as a gift, it is no longer about us pursuing it for our own purposes and desires, but about receiving it and using it as the giver intended. It means enjoying food in the way God intended. It means enjoying drinks in the way God intended. It means enjoying work in the way God intended. 

When we do that—when we receive these things as gifts from God and ENJOY them—we are fighting against idolatry. Idolatry always comes from taking a good gift of God, turning into a god itself, and pursuing that idol rather than God—pursuing the gift rather than the giver. But, when we receive these things as good gifts from God, we receive the good gift, we enjoy the gift He has given us, and then we worship Him for giving us such a good gift. Enjoying God’s good gifts is a powerful tool for batting idolatry in our life and idolatry leads to meaninglessness, but WORSHIP leads toward meaning and purpose. 

Chasing pleasure is like chasing the wind. It will always be just outside your grasp. It will always be slipping between your fingertips. That’s the nature of it. That’s why Jesus says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31–33, NIV). Don’t pursue all these other things. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, THEN all these other things will fall into place. Don’t pursue eating and drinking or pleasure because you’ll never find it. Pursue Christ and then you’ll find that you can truly enjoy your eating and drinking and find true pleasure. Don’t pursue work and wisdom for your ultimate pleasure because you’ll never find it. Pursue Christ and then you’ll find wisdom and purpose in your work. Seek first the kingdom of God and then all these things will be added unto you. 

When we seek first the kingdom of God—when we pursue Christ—we find that we no longer need to strive. When we seek Christ we find forgiveness and satisfaction. We no longer need to prove ourselves. We no longer need to worry about our future. We no longer need to wrestle with our meaning and purpose. When we pursue Christ we find that He is ENOUGH. We can rest in him and trust Him with all of our life. We can rest in him and trust him in such a way that we can ENJOY the good gifts he gives us—gifts of food, drink, and work—and turn them around in worship. When we pursue Christ and enjoy his good gifts, we find every aspect of our lives infused with meaning. Try to pursue these things apart from Christ, you will be chasing the wind. Pursue Christ and the wind of meaning and purpose in your life will come to you and fill you as you enjoy His good gifts.