Under the Sun

What do people gain from all their labors

at which they toil under the sun?….. (Ecclesiastes 1:3).

 

I have spent years of my life striving for things like money, affirmation and the approval of people. Not only that, but I’ve always strived for my own platform. My own place where I become a very important person. Yet, I am reminded through the words of King Solomon that all of this is meaningless.

 

The Hebrew word for meaningless, Hebel, means breath or vapor. My attempts to try to become someone important in my own eyes are but vain, pithy attempts that hold no real sustenance in this world. It’s as if I’ve spent much of my life eating air, expecting it to somehow energize and sustain me in this life.

 

It’s no wonder there have been times in my life when life itself felt meaningless, frustrating and purposeless. You see if our purpose is built upon making ourselves great than we will live empty lives. Yet, if we change our hearts, surrender our sin and start living for things that actually matter we can indeed have and experience joy in this life.

 

If we look at the life of Jesus we see a man who invested His life not in things, power or success, but in people. Yes, He poured His life into serving, loving and teaching others about God. This is where meaning is found, not through making a stage for ourselves, but through serving others in the places God has put us for the ultimate praise of His glory.

 

Will our stages be small? Yes, they will, but our hearts will grow deep and wide, making space for people to come, enter in and be received with love. There, in the light of our hearts, we can give to them the love of God that has been stored up in ours. We can serve them, love them and teach them about God. This is the place where we join together with God on a grand adventure, no longer living for what we want, but seeing with fresh eyes the Kingdom work God has for us to do.

 

Lord, I long to be a Kingdom worker for you. Sometimes, life becomes about me. Please forgive me. I want others to see my heart. A heart that is not perfected, but is being perfected. A life that doesn’t have it all together, but one that desperately wants to be like. you. Jesus, I give you this day that as I teach may it not be for my own praise, but instead, for your eternal glory, Amen.