This chapter reads a little more like Proverbs than the previous ones. So, even though there is some logic to its structure, Solomon hits many different topics for us to examine – life and death, pain and pleasure, feeling and avoiding, listening and ignoring, patience and impulsivity, humility and pride, past and present, wisdom and wealth, protection and preservation, control and trust, righteousness and wickedness, humanity and holiness.

Solomon continues his search for meaning by examining worship, power, and wealth, showing that both careless worship and unchecked greed ultimately leave the soul dissatisfied.

You can receive this teaching as a written lesson by email at LivethruJesus.Substack.com for $6/month or $60/year. With your subscription, you will also receive access to all previous lessons which include the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon.

Free - blog post with each lesson emailed when you become a free subscriber. Listen to or Watch blog/devotion on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions YouTube and Podcast Channel.

Solomon continues his reflections about life, but shifts his focus from time and eternity to relationships. As he examined all types of societal and relational situations, he concluded that life is best when it is shared with others. In the good times and the bad, we need each other. But he also recognized that even the strongest and best relationships can be fragile and incomplete. No one can fill all of our needs all of the time.

God is the only One who can provide perfect stability, help, support, strength, peace, and rest. We should look to Him as our ultimate Comforter, Partner, Companion, and Protector, because only in Him will we find true meaning and purpose.

He puts the desire for understanding in our hearts, yet keeps full comprehension just out of reach so that we will continue searching. Since this world ultimately cannot satisfy, we must look up. Because we are limited, we must rely on the One who is infinite. He has placed a longing for the eternal within each one of us, knowing that it will not be fulfilled here on earth.

You can receive this teaching as a written lesson by email at LivethruJesus.Substack.com for $6/month or $60/year. With your subscription, you will also receive access to all previous lessons which include the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon.

Free - blog post with each lesson emailed when you become a free subscriber. Listen to or Watch blog/devotion on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions YouTube and Podcast Channel.

God created everything with order and purpose. Life has its appointed seasons so that no one thing, whether good or bad, lasts forever. Seasons that we may find troubling or even wrong have their purpose in God, so we just need to trust Him knowing that nothing lasts forever and ask Him to give us discernment to know the proper time for things.

You can receive this teaching as a written lesson by email at LivethruJesus.Substack.com for $6/month or $60/year. With your subscription, you will also receive access to all previous lessons which include the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon.

Free - blog post with each lesson emailed when you become a free subscriber. Listen to or Watch blog/devotion on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions YouTube and Podcast Channel.

Where do we find purpose and meaning? Do you find meaning in your job, or by gaining knowledge and wisdom. Do you see value in money and possessions or maybe in entertainment and pleasurable experiences?

Solomon was the wisest man on earth and he ultimately concluded that all these things were meaningless. Not because he didn’t find satisfaction in a job well done, enjoy fun experiences, or see the benefit of wisdom, but because they all have their limits. He couldn’t take any of his possessions with him when he died. The more knowledge he gained, the more evil he was aware of, which only brought him heartache. There was no way to be happy all the time so if that the purpose of life, it was a disappointment.

In the end, the only thing that matters is the things that will last forever, which are the things of God. If we live for Him on this earth, then He will give us abundant and eternal life.

You can receive this teaching as a written lesson by email at LivethruJesus.Substack.com for $6/month or $60/year. With your subscription, you will also receive access to all previous lessons which include the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon.

Free - blog post with each lesson emailed when you become a free subscriber. Listen to or Watch blog/devotion on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions YouTube and Podcast Channel.