Part 1: The Limits of Life Under the Sun
Day 1
'The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”'
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher's first word is that everything under the sun is hebel. It’s all vapor or breath that you can see but never truly grasp. You will never be able to anchor your life to hebel, because it isn't solid enough. It’s here one day, and gone the next. What have you been trying to anchor your life to under the sun that was never going to be firm enough to hold?
Action: Pick one plan or expectation for your life that you're holding onto tightly today. Name it as hebel out loud, and hold it open-handed for the rest of the day.
Day 2
'What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.'
Ecclesiastes 1:3-7
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
"What do people gain from all their labors?” The sun pants through its route, straining forward but never finishing. The wind circles south and north, never actually arriving anywhere. The rivers pour endlessly into the sea but never fill them. Humanity is no different. Generations go and generations come, caught in that same restless cycle nature never escapes. What do these observations say about your life and what you're doing with it?
Action: Go outside today and watch something in nature move for at least two minutes (wind in trees, clouds, water) without pulling out your phone. Let it remind you that the strain will never stop for the earth, or for us.
Day 3
'All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 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.'
Ecclesiastes 1:8-10
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
"The eye never has enough of seeing." Just like the sea that never fills, you were built with a drive that never says enough. Every new technology promises to finally satisfy, and none of them do. Where do you feel that endless pull to want more, and what's it actually costing you to keep feeding this desire?
Action: Identify the one app, site, or habit that most feeds your "want more" drive. Delete it, log out of it, or put it out of reach for the rest of today.
Day 4
'No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.'
Ecclesiastes 1:11
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
"No one remembers the former generations." Try naming your great-great-grandparents. If anyone had a shot at remembering them, it's certainly their own flesh and blood. But if you can't, no one else on earth stands a chance. Hundreds of years from now, this will be our fate too. That should take the pressure off! You were never meant to carry the weight of leaving an impact or a legacy. What changes when you let go of that pressure and just live faithfully to the portion that God has given you?
Action: Do one thing today purely to enjoy it. Eat the meal slowly, call the friend, sit outside. Receive your portion in life as a gift from God today.