Today’s Quiet Time – Searching for Meaning: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Quiet Time – Searching for Meaning: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

 Scripture (NIV)

¹ The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
² “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
³ What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
⁴ Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
⁸ All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
⁹ What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

 Reflection :  Quiet Time – Searching for Meaning: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The Teacher’s Revelation (1:1–4)

The Teacher, identified as a son of King David, starts his book of wisdom with striking words of disillusionment: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” The original Hebrew word describes something that has no substance, like dust or vapor. The Teacher looks back on his life and realizes that everything he once thought was gain will be reduced to nothing in the end. The labors of man only produce toil, and generations upon generations appear briefly on the stage of life and then vanish, never to be seen again. The fragility of human existence is the core truth that underlies the Teacher’s wisdom as he takes us on a journey to discover what is truly valuable in life.

READ: Today’s Quiet Time: Blessed Are the Humble – Psalm 41:1-13

When have you experienced disillusionment? What types of situations cause you to feel disillusioned?

The Circle of Life (1:5–11)
Employing a technique that is common in biblical wisdom literature, the Teacher surveys the various ways in which the natural world illustrates his main point. Whether it is the activity of the sun, the direction of the winds, or the flowing of the streams, everything and everyone returns to where it came from. Just as the sea is never full despite the constant streams that flow into it, human beings are never satisfied no matter what they see, hear, or do. Things that seem new and novel have actually existed long before our time. It is therefore foolish to have a puffed-up sense of our own significance when the natural world around us is far more permanent than we will ever be.

Observe the natural world around you: the trees, the sun, the sky, and the earth. Ask God to humble your heart as you meditate on His creation.

 Prayer based on Searching for Meaning: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Father, I confess that I am sometimes puffed up with pride and self-importance. Humble my heart and help me to see that my life is but a mist. Remind me that only Your kingdom is everlasting. In Jesus’ name, amen.