Twisted Truth

4 “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

How might we save time and heartache loaded with disappointment?

Simple: fix your eyes on the truth.

Yet, finding truth is often difficult. There is one who twists the truth to lies.

Truth is in this passage. Meaning is never found in striving for earthly treasure…

not in projects, horticulture, public works, many servants, livestock, gold, entertainment, sex…

not in pleasure, or intense labor, or multiple achievements.

There are no exceptions. Meaning is not found on earth.

You ask, where is truth? Where is meaning?

The Carpenter said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.”

 

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” Mark 8:36 (NLT)

David EllisComment