[0:00] Well, a few days ago, I met with a group of ladies at a senior living facility for a Bible study, and during our discussion, one of the ladies asked me whether I ever gave much thought to the meaning of life when I was still an unbeliever. And I told her, yes, I actually gave it a lot of thought, which proved to be the source of a lot of anguish for me. You see, like a lot of people, I tried desperately to find fulfillment and purpose and temporary distractions and fleeting pleasures.
[0:42] Meanwhile, I constantly thought about those big questions like, what's the meaning of life? Why am I here? Where does one find genuine happiness in this world?
[0:56] But I was still an unbeliever. My heart was hard to God, so I refused to consider how I might find my answers in Him. And to illustrate how much this really tormented me, I'll share with you a story that I've rarely shared with anyone. When I was 19, maybe 20, I found myself in possession of a handgun.
[1:23] And you'll find this a bit ironic in a moment, but I actually stole it from my roommate because he admitted to being very depressed, and he actually threatened to kill himself. So I took the gun, and I hid it in my truck so that he would not hurt himself. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up 800 miles away from him with his gun in my truck. It was late at night. I was alone, and I was parked in a cemetery of all places. It seems almost surreal now, but I had that gun lying on the passenger seat, and I just stared at it. Now, I wasn't depressed in a clinical sense. I wasn't happy, but it wasn't as though I was staring at that gun through tears. I just sat there very calmly and contemplated whether life was worth living. If not, why bother, I thought. I could very easily escape this life right here, right now. And if it's worth living, why do I feel utterly dissatisfied all the time? Long before I knew anything about the secular philosopher Albert Camus, I reached the same conclusion as him. I assumed we had only two choices. We could either take some control over our helpless, meaningless situation by taking our own lives, or continue on while merely pretending our lives have a purpose. Finding purpose in something. According to Camus, we might as well. He didn't believe life had any meaning at all. He said, life is like a man pushing a heavy boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down again. So we have to return to the bottom and push it up again, over and over and over again. Well, Camus says the whole thing is meaningless. Life is meaningless. It's absurd.
[3:24] So the choice is to either fall into despair or, and this was Camus' preference, rebel against it. And how does one rebel against the futility of life? According to Camus, you simply invent a reason for living. You pretend life has a purpose. You pretend each day is meaningful. Though you know there isn't a good reason to push that boulder up the hill yet again, you rebel against the futility by doing it anyway. And you might as well do it with a smile on your face, you know, embrace the delusion you've created. That was Camus' advice. And that's basically the approach I took. I hid the gun under my seat, I left the cemetery that night, and I assumed that I'd find some way or another to endure the futility of life. In hindsight, of course, I realized God spared me that day. I wasn't willing to find my purpose in Him just yet, but He spared me for the day I would. And that brings us back to Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. We won't spend our entire study in Ecclesiastes, but Solomon, as you know if you were here last time, presents two competing worldviews. The first is a secular worldview that gives no thought to God or the possibility of eternity. It's Albert Camus' worldview. It's all meaningless. All is vanity, he says. According to the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, this worldview sees life as frustratingly monotonous. Life is just an endless cycle of repetition that offers no ultimate satisfaction. But then chapter three shows us the alternative, or at least begins to. The cycles are still there. The seasons of life, they continually come and go just as before, just like they did in chapter one. But Solomon gives no hint of despair. In chapter one, it was all vain and wearisome.
[5:43] But in chapter three, Solomon says it has a purpose. Every single season, every single cycle, every single event has a purpose. More than that, it's all beautiful. But even more than that, he says there's joy to be found in it. So what's the difference? If the seasons aren't different, if the repetition isn't different, if life is pretty much the same on the surface, how can Solomon feel so different about it? Well, as I said last time, the difference is twofold. God and eternity. Knowing God and knowing there is an eternity to come changes everything. Now, my goal in this study is to take us into the granular details of everyday life. Going to work, grocery shopping, morning routines, watching TV, and so on. I want to address the most ordinary aspects of life and consider how the Bible guides us, even in the ordinary, even in the mundane. But we have to lay some groundwork first. Think of it like one of Paul's letters in the New Testament. Before he ever addresses the more practical matters, he spends a few chapters teaching the necessary theology behind those practical matters. And that's what I'm attempting to do here. So Solomon says, God in eternity change everything. Suddenly doing the dishes isn't just doing the dishes. Mowing the lawn isn't just mowing the lawn. Personally, my least favorite household chore has to be, hands down, cleaning up leaves in the fall. I mean, it has Ecclesiastes 1 written all over it. What has man gained by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. By the time I clean up leaves, it's usually cold and windy, which is not my favorite. I rarely get the satisfaction of seeing a clean yard because more leaves are falling behind me as I work. And by the next day, it often doesn't look like I did anything at all.
[8:11] It very much feels like an exercise in futility. So how does God and the prospect of eternity change any of that? I still have to clean up the leaves. I still have to clean them up over and over again.
[8:29] I still have to fight the wind and the cold. So how does God and eternity give meaning to raking or blowing leaves? Better yet, how do God and eternity provide joy and satisfaction through something as repetitive and undesirable as raking and blowing leaves? Once again, listen to what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
[9:02] For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Skipping ahead, he says, What gain has the worker from his toil?
[9:14] I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceive that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live. Also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man.
[9:47] I perceive that whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. God has done it so that people fear before him that which is already has been, that which is to be already has been, and God seeks what has been driven away. So first of all, let's consider what Solomon says about God. And this is really the crux of the matter. You remember his conclusion in chapter 12. Remember your creator. More than anything, Solomon says, this is what I want you to know.
[10:29] This is what I want you to take away from all of this. Remember God. Turn to God. If you want to find meaning, if you want to find joy in this life, turn to God. I don't know whether you've ever noticed this about Ecclesiastes, but it's a very evangelistic book. Now, Solomon doesn't preach the gospel.
[10:54] He doesn't really make any allusions to Christ the Savior. In fact, he doesn't really address our need for salvation, not explicitly anyhow. Solomon doesn't even call God by his name. He never uses the name Yahweh. He never refers to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He talks about God only broadly, if you will. Of course, his original audience would have known full well he was talking specifically about the God of Israel. But all of those reasons have led people, in the past at least, to question the legitimacy of this book. They've questioned whether it really belongs in the Bible.
[11:36] Well, I believe it does, but it helps to understand Solomon's message. And the message is very evangelistic, but it's evangelistic at the most fundamental level. It's very similar to Paul's message when he was in Athens in Acts 17. You know, Paul, he looks around at these pagan people, he sees all of their idols, and he realizes they know nothing about the true and living God, their creator. So he says to them, the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hand, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Do you see the similarities between Paul and Solomon? Neither of them starts by talking about sin or the need for salvation. They're starting at the ground level, if you will. They're merely addressing the existence of God, the creator. But you'll notice something else.
[13:07] Neither of them talks about God in a vague sense. And what I mean is, he is, according to them, number one, the creator of all things. And number two, sovereign over all things. Paul says, he made from one man every nation of mankind having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places.
[13:37] And Solomon says, whatever God does endures forever. Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. It is also God who gives us work in this life, gives us the things we ought to do. It is God who makes everything beautiful in its time. So both Paul and Solomon point to a sovereign creator who still actively sustains and directs the universe. And this is an all-important distinction.
[14:10] You see, most people believe in a God. The people of Athens, they believed in many gods. Today, the deist believes in a divine creator of sorts, but this creator isn't Yahweh. He's not a God you can know personally. He's not a God who takes an active interest in the lives of his people.
[14:34] The deist version of God started creation and immediately left for a permanent vacation. So it's really important to see that Solomon isn't suggesting that just because someone believes in a God, his or her life will suddenly be wonderful and full of meaning. That's not it. This is not Albert Camus' philosophy of telling us to pretend life has meaning by pretending there's a God above.
[15:05] No, Solomon is talking about the God. He's talking about Yahweh, the self-existent, most high God. He's talking about almighty, everlasting God. He's talking about the God who provides and heals. He's talking about the God of peace and the Lord of armies.
[15:28] Solomon is talking about the God of the Bible. And what do we know about the God of the Bible? Well, let's consider just a few of his attributes.
[15:40] First, God is eternal. From everlasting to everlasting, God is God. Psalm 90 says, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
[16:00] God's existence is not bound by time. He is not a temporary fixture of the universe. He's not a product of our own creation.
[16:15] Instead, he is the eternal creator who brought the entire universe into existence. He created time itself. He is, and always has been, and always will be.
[16:28] He is, I am. And what that means is that God, is that God's perspective stretches far beyond whatever limited horizon we can see.
[16:44] We see in the short term. We can only see what's really right in front of us. The mundane tasks of the week. Or the seemingly meaningless chores of the day that we have to get done before the day is over.
[16:57] But God sees eternity. He knows precisely how all things, both big and small, fit together in this timeless, sovereign plan of His. So, when we remember our Creator, as Solomon says we should, we should remember that He holds eternity in His hands.
[17:16] And by the way, if we belong to Him, He holds us as well. Deuteronomy 33 says, in verse 27, the eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
[17:34] So, God is eternal. Second, God is sovereign. So, one of the key themes of Ecclesiastes is the sovereign providence of God.
[17:48] We see that in chapter 3, for example. How Solomon describes the seasons and the rhythms of life as established by God.
[17:59] He has made everything beautiful in its time. Nothing falls outside of His sovereign rule. He governs the affairs of nations. He governs the changing of the seasons.
[18:11] And He governs the daily routines of our lives. Psalm 115 says, Our God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. And it is this sovereignty that infuses meaning into every single day of our lives.
[18:31] Without God's sovereign hand, life's rhythms would be, well, as Solomon described in Ecclesiastes 1, nothing more than an endless cycle of repetition.
[18:42] The sun would rise and set without purpose. Our chores would be meaningless jobs. I mean, there would be no substance to it. But when we remember our Creator, we remember that He orchestrates these rhythms.
[18:59] He places us where we are and when we are according to His wise design.
[19:10] So, these predictable routines of life are not empty. In fact, they are parts of an extraordinary plan God is working out through all of history.
[19:23] And He uses our ordinary activities, our cleaning, our cooking, our working, our reading, our resting, to accomplish a much greater purpose than we likely see in the moment.
[19:35] We don't know all of the details of the greater plan. Solomon says as much. We cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Much of it is a mystery to us.
[19:47] But, whatever He's doing, whatever He has planned, Solomon says, God, what God does, endures forever.
[19:59] forever. Third, God is holy. God is holy. He is perfectly holy.
[20:11] He is morally pure. He is set apart from all of creation. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. To say He is holy is to say He is utterly unique and transcendent.
[20:28] We should never think that the God we serve is like us, merely a greater version of a human being. No, it's the other way around.
[20:40] He is infinitely above us. He is the Creator who stands outside of creation while also upholding creation all the while. Now, that's a humbling thought.
[20:54] And if nothing else, it reminds us that He is worthy of our reverence and our obedience. But more to the point, how does God's holiness change the ordinary or the mundane in our lives?
[21:11] Well, it teaches us that our work, our routines, our day-to-day lives are not so-called secular spaces where God isn't concerned about what we're doing or how well we're doing it.
[21:25] Of course, all of life is under His gaze. And the holiness of God demands that we live every moment before His face. You know, we can't compartmentalize our lives into the sacred and the secular, which is something I think we're naturally prone to do.
[21:46] our worship on Sunday morning is, in many respects, connected to our dish washing on Monday evening because it's the same holy God who is present in both settings.
[22:02] So, when we remember our Creator, we remember that He is holy and He is worthy of our reverence not just in church but in our homes and in our offices and at the grocery store and in the backyard and so on.
[22:23] Fourth, God is good and merciful. He is good and merciful. The God of the Bible is not only sovereign and holy but He is also infinitely good and kind and merciful.
[22:43] As the psalmist says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34, 8. We serve a God who loves His people.
[22:58] We serve a God who provides for their needs, who cares for them with a tender mercy. He feeds the sparrows. He clothes the lilies and Jesus says, Are you not of more value than they?
[23:14] When we know our Creator as good and merciful, the ordinary activities of life gain a profound sense of comfort and security the God who calls us to remember Him is not harsh.
[23:33] He's not distant. He is a loving Father who draws near to us. He forgives our sins through Christ His Son. He sanctifies our hearts by His Holy Spirit.
[23:45] He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. So even when life feels repetitive and tiresome, we can lean on the goodness of God who truly, truly cares for us.
[24:00] What did Paul say? We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. Now, keep in mind that that truth includes the monotony of work and these chores that never seem to end and the ordinary routines that make up, frankly, most of our existence.
[24:20] it's all working together for good according to the good plan of a good God. Well, fifth and sixth, I guess we'll put these together, God is omnipresent and omniscient.
[24:41] We cannot escape God's presence. He is everywhere at all times fully aware of all that happens. Psalm 139.7 says, Where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presence?
[24:58] The answer, of course, is nowhere. And what this means is that there is no such thing as a moment too small or too insignificant for God's notice.
[25:13] Every second of every day unfolds before His eyes. He sees us when we're folding the laundry. He knows our hearts when we sit down at our desk on Monday morning.
[25:26] He recognizes our struggles when we try to balance the demands of family and work. And more than that, He understands those feelings we have.
[25:39] He knows our frustrations. He knows our joys. In fact, I would argue that He knows them better than we do. God's omnipresence and omniscience guarantee that none of your labors are wasted.
[25:56] He notices, He cares, He is there working all things for your good and of course His glory. I mean, think about it. This really transforms the mundane into what we might call a divine encounter.
[26:11] encounter. You know, we don't have to have and we don't have to chase these mountaintop experiences to feel close to God. He is with us in the quiet, in the ordinary moments.
[26:26] So, when we remember our Creator, we should draw comfort from His abiding presence. We should really learn to commune with Him as we move through our daily routines, which, spoiler alert, is how we find joy in these routines.
[26:45] It's not the routines themselves. I don't think I'll ever find joy in blowing leaves for blowing leaves' sake. But with God, everything changes.
[26:58] So, that's just some of God's attributes. He is sovereign, He is eternal, He is sovereign, He is holy, He is good, He is omnipresent and omniscient.
[27:10] And we could certainly go further. And everything we might learn about God is going to continue to change the way we view life and approach our daily activities.
[27:24] But I want to turn and focus on something slightly different. I want to consider how God created us. Why did He create us the way we are?
[27:36] And what does this mean for our ordinary lives? Well, the Bible is clear from the start that God created us in His image.
[27:48] Genesis 1 says, verse 27, so God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him. Male and female, He created them. Now, being created in God's image means we were designed from the start to reflect His character.
[28:10] We represent His rule. And we relate to Him very personally. And we also see from Genesis that God created us to be workers, to be stewards.
[28:24] He placed Adam and Eve in the garden, not simply to enjoy it altogether passively, but to cultivate it, to care for it. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
[28:38] So, we see that work, ordinary responsibilities, if you will, are not consequences of sin. And that's an important thing to establish.
[28:51] The need for work, the need to manage the world around us is actually part of God's original design for humanity even when this place was very much a paradise.
[29:04] Now, of course, sin has corrupted our work, making it more difficult, making it increasingly frustrating. We see that in Genesis 3 after the fall. But the work itself is good.
[29:18] Before the fall, work was a delight. It was a joyful participation in God's creative order. And even now, though it is marred by sin, work remains a good gift through which we can reflect God's image.
[29:33] image, we can and we should do what God created us to do. We image God, if you will. As we bring order out of chaos, as we nurture life, as we care for His creation, we image God in the ordinary because that's precisely what He made us for.
[29:58] And I'll tell you, every tool works much better when you use it for its intended purpose. This is something I'll come back to in a future lesson, but I think we might forget that the majority of Jesus' life on this earth was not spent doing miracles and in public ministry.
[30:23] He was a carpenter, working with His hands for many years in Nazareth. He did a lot of ordinary things. eating meals, conversing with neighbors, fulfilling daily responsibilities just like the rest of us.
[30:41] And everything He did obviously was a demonstration of His faithfulness and His patience and His humility and His love, and in the end He was sinless, right? Through all of these ordinary activities, He remained sinless.
[30:55] But more than that, we might say Jesus, He dignifies the ordinary. our Creator literally, physically, showed us how to live according to His original design.
[31:11] He showed us that our daily tasks, the ordinary things, even the mundane, done in submission to God, have eternal significance.
[31:25] experience. You see, God's eternal plan includes the ordinary. It must. Most of God's people throughout history have lived very, very ordinary lives by human standards.
[31:42] Few have yielded great power or wielded great power or left their mark on the pages of history, history, but God was just as concerned with the poor widow in her humble home as He was with King David in the palace.
[32:02] Through the prophet Micah, the Lord says, He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.
[32:17] Walking humbly with God happens for the most part for most of us in all of these everyday details of life. Not in grand, big, spiritual type gestures, but in the completely mundane and ordinary.
[32:37] Think about what Paul said to the Colossians in Colossians 3.23. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Now, notice what he does not say.
[32:51] He doesn't say, whenever you do spiritual things, whenever you go out into the mission field, whenever you do something that is very distinctly Christian service, then work heartily.
[33:10] No, he says, whatever you do, your career, your hobbies, your household chores, your volunteer work, even your recreation, we are to do it as for the Lord.
[33:28] Why is that? Because we remember our creator. We remember that we serve him in every aspect of life.
[33:39] We remember that he sees us, that he cares for us, and that he directs our steps. We remember that all of life is part of his eternal plan that is working for his glory and frankly, our good.
[33:54] God. Now, maybe this would be a good time to point out that when Solomon encourages us to remember our creator, that is much more than merely acknowledging that he exists.
[34:13] First, we have to understand that we are talking about the one true living God, but second, we have to do more than merely acknowledge his existence. According to James, even the demons believe in his existence.
[34:25] They have no doubt about it. No, to remember our creator is to sincerely trust him and his plans.
[34:36] It is to live as though his attributes are not some abstract theological concepts, but living realities that actually make a difference in our day-to-day lives.
[34:48] To truly remember God is to rest in his sovereignty, believing that he uses even our daily routines as instruments of his gracious purpose.
[35:02] So, how do we cultivate this kind of remembrance and trust? Well, let me give you five things to think about. First, and this one is probably obvious, we have to submit ourselves to God's word.
[35:19] word. The Bible is God's revelation of himself. If we want to truly know God and understand his purpose for the ordinary, we have to immerse ourselves in scripture, what he has told us.
[35:34] The instruction manual from the creator himself, if you will. Again, Solomon acknowledges that we cannot figure out God's entire plan. He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
[35:52] But that doesn't mean we can't know anything. God reveals precisely what we need to know. He shows us who he is.
[36:06] He shows us what he requires of us. So by regularly reading and studying his word, we learn to see life through his eyes. We learn to trust him even when we can't see the full picture.
[36:20] And we learn to follow his commands even in the smallest affairs of life. As the psalmist says, Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
[36:37] Second, we should pray. Prayer keeps us mindful of God's presence and his involvement in all things.
[36:50] When we pray, we are acknowledging both his presence and our dependence on him. We are saying, Lord, I know you are here and I know that you care.
[37:03] I know that you have a purpose for my life. I know you have a purpose for this very moment. So help me to trust you. Help me to obey you. Help me to serve you, even in the smallest things.
[37:19] Prayer transforms even the simplest chores into moments of fellowship with our Creator. Pray without ceasing, Paul says.
[37:32] That, of course, is not a call to spend every waking moment on our knees, literally, but it's a call to maintain that continual dependence.
[37:43] It's perpetual awareness of God's presence and His help. And it's a habit that helps us remember our Creator at all times, that constant communion with Him.
[37:59] Third, we should cultivate gratitude. Cultivate gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful antidote to the despair and the frustration that comes with viewing life as meaningless.
[38:16] When we are continually thanking God for all that He has provided, the food on our tables, the clothes on our backs, the work that supports our family, the relationships that bring us joy, we affirm that none of these things are accidental.
[38:33] They are all gifts from His hand. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above coming down from the Father of lights, right? Gratitude helps us remember that even the most ordinary blessings are actually expressions of God's kindness.
[38:53] And that simple recognition turns wearisome chores into acts of stewardship. Taking care of something God has provided us.
[39:04] We're taking care of something God has generously provided us. Well, fourth, we should reflect often on the gospel.
[39:19] As I said, Ecclesiastes really doesn't present the gospel, at least not in a clear, direct, New Testament kind of way. But the fuller revelation of Scripture shows us Christ our Savior, the one who reconciles us to God.
[39:39] And through His life, death, and resurrection, He secures for us not only eternal salvation, of course, which is significant on its own when we're going through our ordinary routines, but Christ also provides us with a life lived in the light of God's favor.
[40:02] if we are in Christ, we are no longer under God's wrath because of our sin. Instead, we are adopted as His children, co-heirs with Christ.
[40:16] And with this in mind, the most mundane elements of life are transformed into settings where we can glorify God and grow in His grace and commune with Him.
[40:29] in Christ, even our most tedious labors become offerings of love and obedience. The dividing wall between us and God has been completely torn apart.
[40:41] It's broken down. It's not there. And finally, we need to keep eternity in view. Remember that Solomon says God has placed eternity in our hearts.
[40:57] as believers, we know this world is not our final home. We anticipate a new heaven and a new earth at the Lord's return.
[41:09] We look forward to living in a perfect place forever with our Creator. And this eternal perspective shapes how we think about the ordinary.
[41:23] The routines and the chores of life are not only temporary, that's true, but more importantly, they carry eternal implications.
[41:34] It's not as though we're going to reach a point, the end, everything said and done and wiped away forever. No. For those in Christ, life continues on and on and on forever.
[41:50] and our faithfulness in the present, in these ordinary things, daily routines, whatever they might be, displays our trust in God's eternal plan.
[42:08] Eternal plan. Not just for the moment, but a wide, long, never-ending plan of God.
[42:21] With that, let's, a couple more things. The Apostle Paul says, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.
[42:36] 1 Corinthians 10.31. Now, I can't think of anything more mundane or ordinary than eating and drinking, right? But Paul insists that even these things can be done for God's glory.
[42:48] How so? Well, if we truly remember our Creator, we know that He has designed this world as well as our place in it. He has given us food and drink to sustain us.
[43:01] He has given us bodies to serve Him. So as we engage in these activities, we are not merely wasting time or chasing after empty pleasures, we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were created, to know God and to glorify Him.
[43:17] So again, remembering our Creator is not some sort of passing acknowledgement. It is an active trusting posture of the heart. It affects our attitudes, our actions, our aspirations.
[43:33] It leads us to worship God in all things, to pray continually, to study His Word, to cultivate gratitude, and ultimately to rest in Christ.
[43:45] And when we live in this way, the simplest tasks are then infused with divine purpose. Now, to bring this back to Ecclesiastes real quickly, you may remember that Solomon ends where he began, with the words, vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity.
[44:04] But that's not the last word in the book. In the final chapter, the narrator steps back in and he concludes, the end of the matter, all has been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
[44:21] To fear God is to, at least in part, acknowledge His attributes, which we've talked about, and live accordingly. It is to trust Him, it is to follow His ways, even when life feels repetitive and difficult.
[44:37] And this fear, or this reverence, leads us to keep His commandments, which is a response of faith and obedience to the One who forms and continually sustains us.
[44:50] Fear God and keep His commandments. In other words, bring God into the center of your routines. When you rise in the morning, remember that it is God who gives you breath.
[45:02] When you go to work, remember that it is God who gives you the ability to work. When you perform your household chores, remember that it is God who gave you a family and a home and the strength to care for them.
[45:16] When you share a meal, remember that it is God who provided it. And when you rest at the end of the day, remember it is God who gives us sleep. All of these activities, as ordinary and commonplace as they are, become reminders of our Creator's presence and His kindness and His sovereignty.
[45:37] And this is how we find meaning in life. We do not pretend life has meaning. We do not rebel against the futility by embracing a delusion.
[45:51] Instead, we embrace reality. A reality that God is real, that God is present, and that He has a plan. And we trust that plan.
[46:02] We trust the one who made it. We find our purpose in Him, and we discover that even the simplest tasks can serve as stepping stones, if you will, on a path to an eternal kingdom.
[46:17] We remember our Creator, and in doing so, we find joy, we find contentment, we find meaning, even in the seemingly mundane activities of everyday life.
[46:32] With that, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time in Your Word. As we go from here, help us to remember You in every aspect of our lives.
[46:43] Help us to see Your hand at work in the ordinary. And grant us hearts full of gratitude and joy. Strengthen us to live faithfully, reflecting Your character in all that we do.
[46:56] And may our lives bring glory to You and point others to Your truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're dismissed. Thank you.