The Secret of Life

There is an emphasis in the American life of being significant. We should have a purpose driven life. The promise is we will find fulfillment when we determine our purpose and achieve that purpose. The good kid goes through college and earns a good degree. He finds a good job and has dreams of climbing the ladder. Five or ten years latter, disillusion sets in when work becomes a daily grind. Where is fulfillment?

The young woman marries, has children and spends her life raising the kids. I applaud this mother. After 15-20 years of hard work, she finds teenagers living in her house that believe they know everything and their mother knows nothing. Where is fulfillment?

No matter where we look in the world, we will ultimately run out of hope there is fulfillment in the things we do. The person who has a bad relationship with God is in a bad place. Nothing will fix the problem.

It can be different for those with a repaired relationship with God. Repair of their relationship with God comes when they have realized they are hopeless and they have turned from their wrong ways and accepted the grace available through the sacrifice of Jesus. A person in this position can let go of the vain struggle for significance through our efforts and find significance in the mundane life we live because of the presence of God in our lives.

If you read Ecclesiastes, one of two things will happen. You will despair because all life is vanity. The other option is to understand the life on this earth will not bring fulfillment, it will only come through a relationship with God. A relationship on God’s terms, not ours. You can see this in one verse that I found.

Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 9:11

Lord, help me to live this life with Your perspective. This will enable me to live the full life, pursuing the right things, giving up the pursuit of things that will not satisfy. Help me to be satisfied with the rich blessing you have given.