What does it all mean?

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes when reflecting back on his life. A casual reading of this book would lead you to take it as a long list of complaints, but that is not why he wrote this book. It was the wisest man in history looking back at life and trying to make sense of it all, especially his efforts to gain wisdom, his journeys into pleasure and enjoyment. He was evaluating his life, work and efforts and determine what the point of it all was.

Solomon’s view of life was that much of what we focus on is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. What is his conclusion then? In Halley’s Bible Commentary he summarizes Solomon’s answer to the question “What is it we can do in a world where all is meaningless” as follows:

“Eat, drink, rejoice, do good, live joyfully with your wife, do with full commitment all that your hands find to do, and above all, fear God, keeping your eyes on the final day of judgement. With all his complaints about the nature of creation, Solomon had no doubts as to the existence and justice of the Creator. God is mentioned at least 40 times in this book – more frequently than vanity or meaningless! ” (Emphasis added.)

This is how we should live – with a proper balance of enjoyment and fear of the Lord. Too much pleasure means you take God too lightly. Too much emphasis on fear causes us to become judgmental and bitter.

In this sinful world, it is impossible to live a perfect life so we will always look back and see where we could have done better. Often we are only able to understand God’s goodness and our shortcomings when we look back, and the challenge is to live life looking forward in such a way that when you are able to reflect and look back you will have as few regrets as possible.

It is not a sin to enjoy the fruits of our labors, but it should never be the sole focus. Fearing God, which means respecting Him and His ultimate authority, helps us live life with God as the solid foundation that our lives should be based on.