“Mommy, daddy… What does this verse mean?” I can only imagine this question being asked repeatedly by any kids that are doing the GRIP Reading Plan along with their families as we begin our journey into the book of Song of Solomon. All I have to say is… “Good luck parents! It may be time for your kids to find out that the stories about storks aren’t actually true.”
This past week has covered a lot of ground and has had us reading five different books of the Bible, which has been awesome! Although I love all the books of the Bible, some of them really hold a special place in my heart and Ecclesiastes is one of those.
Sixteen years ago I found myself sitting on a beach, opening up a Bible, and finding this obscure poetic book called Ecclesiastes… and it changed my life! I was at a point in my life that was fraught with a great deal of confusion and a complete lack of direction. I lacked the feeling that my life had some deeper meaning or purpose.
As I began to read the words of King Solomon in this book, I found myself feeling very confused. At this point in my life I had hardly read much of the Bible and as the words “Meaningless, meaningless… Everything is meaningless” jumped off the page at me I was surprised to find something so depressing sounding in the Bible. However, I kept reading.
As I continued to turn the pages and take in the words, something amazing happened. I found God. I found a truth that would form the rest of my life. I discovered that life without God was, in fact, meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:14 says, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” What a despairing image it is to think of someone chasing after the wind. And this is how the author describes everything in life.
Beyond this, as I got to the first eight verses of chapter three, I was exposed to Solomon’s depiction of the unchanging, mundane routine of life. Everything comes and goes at its time and this cycle never stops. This routine is always in motion and we are simply along for this cyclical ride. Wow. How depressing is that!
Yet, I continued to trudge on and conquer this book. By the time I had made it to chapter 12, I was basically questioning everything I was doing in life and everything that I was pursuing. I saw the holes and the emptiness in the direction that my life was headed. Then suddenly, as I read the second last verse of the entire book, a solution presented itself. I read the words “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” It was as though God had used this book to take me on a reflective journey through my whole life. He had exposed my life for what it truly was… meaningless. But since He is a loving God, He didn’t just leave me there. He showed me the depths of meaning and purpose that my life could have if I was willing to simply surrender it to Him. And I did. And I’ve never looked back. It is simply the best decision I’ve ever made.
-Ryan Guerra
(Associate Pastor)