Man . . . is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers.
–Job 14:1-2
Why is it important to make God central in our lives? First of all, we should remember our Creator because of the futility of life apart from God. Look at Ecclesiastes 12:1: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’”
What was Solomon talking about? What are the “evil days” that will come and cause you to say, “I hate my life”?
Verses 2-7 tell us Solomon was probably thinking about the senior adult years when physical infirmities make life very difficult. But I do not think that was the only thing Solomon had in mind here. For Solomon, the season of life that caused him to question the meaning of life was not his senior adult years but his middle-age years. He started out strong in the faith, but he spent years chasing after money and success and power. And he came to the conclusion that pleasure is futile, wisdom is vain, work is meaningless, government is corrupt, life is unfair, and death awaits us all. But remember, Solomon was looking at life apart from God, life “under the sun.” And from that perspective, life is gloomy and full of despair.
William Lane Craig is a brilliant apologist for the Christian faith. In his book “Reasonable Faith,” he described an unbeliever’s perspective about the meaning of life: “I realize that I am going to die and forever cease to exist. And the universe, too, faces a death of its own. Scientists tell us that the universe is expanding, and the galaxies are growing farther and farther apart. As it does so, it grows colder and colder, and its energy is used up. Eventually all the stars will burn out, and all matter will collapse into dead stars and black holes. . . .
“Mankind is a doomed race in a dying universe. Because the human race will eventually cease to exist, it makes no ultimate difference whether it ever did exist. Mankind is thus no more significant than a swarm of mosquitoes or a barnyard of pigs, for their end is all the same. The same blind cosmic process that coughed them up in the first place will eventually swallow them all again.”
That is life apart from God. Without any consideration of God, life is futile. It means nothing. That is why it is important to make Him first in our lives.
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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Graduation from Hebrew High” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.
William Lane Craig, “Reasonable Faith: Christian Faith and Apologetics,” 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 72-73.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.