The writer of Ecclesiastes experienced all that life had to offer but ended up sad, empty and tired. He tried everything that was supposed to give life meaning, but in the end he concluded that life was meaningless. Where did he go wrong?

The Author and Main Character

Many commentators believe that King Solomon is the author of Ecclesiastes. But the author created a character called The Teacher to express his views.

The author only speaks at the beginning (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11) and conclusion (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14) of the book. The rest of the content comes from the mouth of the Teacher and his message is that life is meaningless.

“Hevel” = Meaningless

The word translated into English as “meaningless” is “Hevel” in Hebrew. It means “vapor” or “smoke”, something insubstantial that can’t be grasped. It also means that life is an enigma. We chase after its meaning, but it eludes us.

Two things make life seem like a vapor: One is time and the other is death.

Over time everything and everyone is forgotten – “lost in the sands of time” as we say. The old generation is replaced by a new generation, and then the old is forgotten. Most people know one or two stories about their grandparents or great-grandparents, and we may have some old photos to look at, but in the short span of two generations, the story of a person’s life disappears into the vapor.

Death is the other experience that shows us how much our lives are like smoke. Death is the great equalizer that falls upon all people whether they are famous or anonymous, rich or poor, strong or weak. No matter how good or bad a person is in their lifetime, death takes them all. Death and time work together to make the lives of people go up in smoke.

If this were all we knew about life, it would be bleak indeed.

What is Life For?

Before we despair about why we exist at all, let’s remember that God is the designer of all of this. He gave life, he created time, and he is with each person from birth to death.

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them . . .When I awake I am still with you.” Psalm 139:15-18

God pays attention to every moment of every person’s life. He makes our earthly lives like a vapor, but we are still the most valuable possession he has. We are made for eternity, but we live today, in this life. How do we discover life’s meaning before it goes away? God must have a plan.

Jesus Demonstrated the Value of Life

Jesus Christ willingly joined people in this experience of life on earth. He lived about thirty-three years and fully embraced the human experience.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Jesus came to earth on a mission.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus didn’t think that life was meaningless. He enjoyed his life because he put his whole heart into whatever God the Father gave him to do each day. At the end of his life his greatest hope was that his followers would enjoy life as much as he did.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:9-11

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 1 John 14:27

Jesus ended his life on earth full of love, joy and peace – enough to give away to all of his disciples.

So the Goal Is . . .

The goal is to put our hope in something greater than a career, money, and earthly achievements. Our goal is to know Jesus and become like him.

Jesus’ obedience to his heavenly Father gave him the most meaningful life possible. He took each day as it came, accepted assignments from his Father, and rejoiced in every opportunity that came his way.

“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he see his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.” John 5:19-20

In his short time on earth Jesus did so many wonderful things his disciples couldn’t record them all. Here is what the Apostle John wrote at the end of his account of the life of Jesus:

“This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” John 21:24-25

That’s an abundant life! And it’s the very life Jesus came to give us.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Release Your Expectations

Everyone makes plans and has hopes about how things will turn out. When things don’t go the way we expect it’s hard to let go and accept things as they are. It feels like a betrayal of our dreams. We wonder what terrible things will happen if we don’t force the outcomes we think are best, but it’s a real struggle trying to stay in charge.

It’s hard to have an abundant life when we are driven by disappointed expectations.

But we don’t have that much control in life. We don’t have the power to make other people do what we want, at least not for long. And we really don’t have enough wisdom to direct how life should go in God’s great universe. We have to leave that up to him.

There is real peace in embracing things as they are and leaving the rest up to God. Here is what the Teacher says about this:

“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11:5-6

In other words, take each day as it comes. Do what God gives you to do that day. Don’t make extra work for yourself by trying to control other people, or wear yourself out wishing for things the Lord hasn’t given you. Your abundant life is right in front of you, in what the Lord has already given you.

The best thing you can do is get to know Jesus and live the way he did. After all, he had the greatest life of all.

Here is an excellent overview of Ecclesiastes created by The Bible Project.