Introduction John Presko Welcome to our devotional through the book of Ecclesiastes. We have written this devotional to help keep everyone engulfed in the book of Ecclesiastes during our Sunday morning preaching series “The Pursuit”. We have divided each of the 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes into four devotions. To get the best experience out of this devotional, I would encourage you to do a few things along with reading this devotional weekly. ● First, I would encourage you to read the entire book of Ecclesiastes in one reading/sitting. I believe that this is a great way to read books of the Bible and helps you understand the book better. ● Second, I would encourage you to read the chapter for the week each day before you read your devotion. Not only will you be reading the verses that the devotion will be focusing on for the day, but you will have read each chapter in Ecclesiastes four times each week and the Holy Spirit will use that in a powerful way. ● Third, I would encourage you to read each devotion along with our sermon series. I know that some of you like to read ahead and that is okay. Just come back and read through each devotion as we are going through it together as a church. I believe this will help you get much more out of each week's sermon and if you are part of a life group, it will help you get more out of your group time. Thank you so much for taking time to dive into Ecclesiastes with us. I would like to thank the following people for writing the devotionals: Tiffany Blum, Jessica Clements, Marion Conover, Tammy Hill, Garrett Holle, Randy Merryman, Zach Owen, Sara Stewart and Allen Tyger. Chapter 1 - Day 1 The Meaning of Life - Ecclesiastes 1:1-5 John Presko People have been asking what the meaning of life is since Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Is the meaning of life just to work? Is the meaning of life to reproduce and have a family? Is the meaning of life to create a legacy, a name or build something that will last the test of time? Is the meaning of life to love others? Is the meaning of life to make as much money as you can and get as much stuff as you can? Is the meaning of life to enjoy as many of its greatest pleasures as possible? Is the meaning of life to be as educated as you can to impact the world around you? Is the meaning of life to do as much good as you can? Is the meaning of life to make the world a better place? Most of these things are not bad, but some of them can lead to dangerous places in our lives and Solomon experienced them all. Many theologians believe that after God granted Solomon wisdom in his younger years, he wrote Song of Solomon and then Proverbs as he was faithfully walking with God. Near the end of his life, after choosing to walk away from God and selfishly experiencing life in every way possible, theologians believe Solomon repented, turned back to God and wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. After experiencing life exhaustively, Solomon has given us a dependable map to follow for a satisfying life, but he must first help us understand that... “Everything is meaningless,” says Solomon, “completely meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NLT) Solomon used the words meaningless or vanity thirty-eight times in the book of Ecclesiastes. The words means emptiness, futility, vapor, that which vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind. One author illustrated it to be the same as popping a soap bubble. The American poet Carl Sanburg compared life to “an onion--you peel if off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said this about the meaning of life, “The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.” As we are going through a global pandemic and watching protests, riots and looting all over the United States, you may feel more than ever that so much of life is meaningless just as Solomon said a few thousand of years ago. Many have been quarantined for a period of time and it is so easy to be very pessimistic about our own personal lives and the state in which we currently find the world. What a relief it is to turn to the gospel of John and read the words of Jesus Himself, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 ESV) Our lives lived in worship to Jesus Christ are not meaningless. Whether we are at work, at school, in quarantine, enjoying the outdoors, spending time with family, washing dishes, doing yard work or enjoying our favorite activities, nothing done for the Lord in the name of the Lord is meaningless. Listen to these words from Paul, “My dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (I Cor. 15:58 NLT) For reflection and prayer: How have you tried to answer the question, “What is the meaning of life?” Ask God to reveal to you meaning and purpose in your life. Chapter 1 - Day 2 Water and Words - Ecclesiastes 1:7-11 Allen Tyger I grew up less than a mile from the river, half a mile of gravel road that ended at a gravel bar that spilled into the Big Piney River. Of course, there are much bigger rivers. And sure there are much smaller rivers (i.e. the aptly named Little Piney River) but as a kid, this was my happy place. My feet walked that path thousands of times. My bike knew the quickest route with the best jumps along the way. And when I was learning to drive, mom and dad’s instructions were always, “Only down to the river and back”. A couple times a year my family would float the Big Piney and countless times I would wander down that gravel road just to skip a few rocks across to the bluff and listen to the rushing water. In the summer months, my friends would come over for camping on the river bank. I remember so many fun summer nights, staying up way too late chatting around the fire. There is just something about sitting next to a river telling stories. For high school boys, there wasn’t much substance there, but just like the water flowing in a constant current, our words and ramblings echoed off the bluff nearly all night long. Solomon writes in chapter 1:7-8 that words and water flow in similar fashion. All rivers flow to the sea, but the sea is never full. To the place where the rivers flow, there the water returns to flow once again. Words, words, words! So many words! They are wearisome things; and yet people cannot refrain from speaking. No eye has ever surveyed the world and said, “I have seen enough”; no ear has ever listened to creation and said, “I have heard enough.” Very poetic and very depressing! Studying Ecclesiastes we should probably get used to that. Remember, Solomon is a man who has tried everything in order to find fulfilment. Ecclesiastes is his Dear John letter to the world. So, one of his first qualms is with the noise pollution created by our constant flow of words. These words sound like they could be written (or more accurately tweeted or blogged) today. But that actually kind of proves his point. No matter what generation or time period you grow up in, the flow of words never stops. Now with the growth of the internet, access to those words is unbridled too. Our phones notify us when someone wants to share live on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. We have podcasts, TED talks, documentaries, audiobooks and even an entire genre called talk radio! It’s no wonder we call our newest forms of entertainment “streaming” services. Sure as the water flows in the Piney River...words just keep coming...flowing...streaming. The flood from our mouths is so natural to us, it spills into our worship as well. Jesus famously called out the Pharisees for standing on the street corner shouting lengthy paragraphs and windy words to show how holy they were. The Prophets called out Israel for singing songs and praises of deliverance while oppressing the poor and enslaving neighboring nations. In summary, “more words” does not equal “better praise” to our God. In fact Jesus, the Prophets and Solomon argue the opposite. More words dilute the message. Spewing paragraphs of meaningless religious rhetoric will likely just get swept downstream with all the other noise. A meaningful message (the most meaningful message) could get tossed in the rapids among all this meaning less talk. So, should we say nothing of God? Surely not. Maybe the lesson here is not silence, but, when we do speak, to make sure it’s something worth being heard. Like the call of James for us to be slow to speak, rattling off and speaking our mind may not always be the best idea. Sitting by that river, I never knew where the water was coming from or even cared where it was going.