Many of us think about this topic as a new year begins. We consider resolutions, needed changes, perspectives on life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Someone recently asked me to write about this question, \u201cwhat do you think is the meaning of life?\u201d The gist of what I wrote follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This question brings to mind the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes (the Hebrew word for Ecclesiastes can mean \u201cgatherer\u201d, \u201cteacher\u201d, or \u201cpreacher\u201d). Traditional scholars agree that it was written by King Solomon toward the end of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The author uses the Hebrew word \u201cHevel\u201d throughout the book. Hevel has many shades of meaning, including: “vain (vanity)”, “futile”, “empty”, “meaningless”, “temporary”, “transitory”, “fleeting,” or “mere breath.” It is usually translated as \u201cvanity\u201d, \u201cfutility\u201d, or \u201cmeaningless\u201d. It is interesting to note that Hevel was the name of the first murder victim in Genesis, translated \u201cAbel\u201d in our Bibles. His life was very brief, like a breath or a vapor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second verse in chapter one begins this pattern: \u201cVanity of vanities,\u201d says the Preacher, \u201cVanity of vanities! All is vanity.\u201d He uses this phrase and variations often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solomon uses the term \u201cHevel\u201d to express his view of the meaningless of life, often using his own life examples. By human standards, he accomplished a great many things. He pursued the sciences, poetry, literature, philosophy, and was known for his great wisdom. He reigned over a vast kingdom with absolute authority. He was a builder and a writer. He was rich, and had many wives and concubines. According to the world\u2019s standards, he \u201chad it all\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the end, he says this in 12:13-14: \u201cThe conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn\u2019t agree more with Solomon\u2019s perspective. Although I am not as accomplished as Solomon in worldly success, I can relate to the part of my life where I was exploring new philosophies and the pleasures of this world. At the end of that period, I considered my life to be a mess, and it seemed meaningless. It wasn\u2019t until I met the Lord and allowed Him to change me, that I found meaning and a purpose in life. To read my testimony in more detail, go to My Story<\/a><\/strong> on this website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what do I think is the meaning of life? This life is very short compared to eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that “God sets eternity in our hearts”<\/em>. We were created to live forever with Him. I am no longer my own, but I belong to Him and I am accountable to Him. I try my best to do what He says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that in the end, when I leave this life, I will live with Him forever, and I want to see as many people with me there as possible, including all my family and friends. This new life of meaning that I have following Jesus is not burdensome, but the greatest joy I have ever known! Many of us think about this topic as a new year begins. We consider resolutions, needed changes, perspectives on life. Someone recently asked me to write about this question, \u201cwhat do you think is the meaning of life?\u201d The gist of what I wrote follows. This question brings to mind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[63,62,64],"class_list":["post-1503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living","tag-ecclesiastes","tag-meaning-of-life","tag-solomon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/searchingscripture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Ecclesiastes.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3486,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/3486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchingscripture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}My Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Meaning of Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"