Part 1: The Limits of Life Under the Sun
Day 1
'I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 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! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
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 1:12-18
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher launches his quest to find meaning under the sun by surveying everything done under the sun and scrutinizing the meaning of wisdom itself. Do you find yourself trying to make sense of this life by observing everything happening around you? What about interrogating your own thinking faculties? Which pursuit are you leaning on hardest right now to make sense of life and has it actually gotten you anywhere solid?
Action: Pick one thing you've been researching about the world, or overanalyzing about yourself. When you identify it, imagine someone reading your thoughts and observations 500 years from now. Reflect on how this changes your perspective about your ideas!
Day 2
'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?” 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.
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. 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. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 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 2:1-11
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher did not deny himself anything his heart desired and catalogues his own empire in the first person: I built, I planted, I designed, I constructed, I purchased, I amassed, I acquired. Your list might be shorter than his, but it ends in the same place, “everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” What's still on your list, waiting to be the thing that finally makes you feel finished?
Action: Action: Write down three things you've built, bought, or achieved this past year. Underneath, write "nothing was gained under the sun". Then, write down your initial reactions to this exercise as you go about your day trying to “shepherd the wind”.
Day 3
'Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? 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.
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 2:12-16
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher observes that wisdom in this life is far better than folly, like light is better than darkness. Yet, "like the fool, the wise too must die!" Every extra hour you've spent getting smarter, healthier, or more disciplined than the person next to you was still headed toward the same grave as theirs. What are you hoping to gain from your wise living under the sun?
Action: Verbalize these words at least once today: "I also must die”. Spend some time processing how this reality challenges your current way of life.
Day 4
'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. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
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? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.'
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher’s “holy temper tantrum” escalates when he realizes that everything he built must go to someone who never worked for it and might ruin it by lunchtime. From the perspective of the New Testament, followers of Jesus have been handed a Heavenly inheritance. We’ve worked for none of it and as sinners we are guaranteed to find ways to ruin it. Thankfully, our inheritance was secured by Jesus on our behalf, the one who never squandered what the Father entrusted to Him! What would it look like to live today trusting that the one thing you're guaranteed to squander has already been secured by someone who never squandered anything?
Action: Today, are you able to “find satisfaction in your toil”? Are you able to “eat and drink” and find enjoyment in it? Name these things as your portion for today and receive them as a blessed gift already given “from the hand of God.”