Finding true fulfilment

It is amazing how contemporary the book of Ecclesiastes is, with its anguished cry: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless”. In this Old Testament book, penned centuries before philosophy began, the author shares his troubled journey: he has tried every avenue to find satisfaction: wealth, women, wisdom, work, wine – whatever. His life still proves frustrating and seems ultimately futile. 

People today also, facing the injustices of life, the foreboding of death and the intuition of judgment – try everything to get happiness and still end up with no life-giving answers; that is our modern human despair! 

Why does the Bible contain such a horrible assessment of our human reality? Because the author is depicting life without God. And why does it sound so contemporary? Because modern secular people, bereft of God and careless of eternity, discover life without God is meaningless. The godless are literally hope-less. 

Without God and the Bible, neither philosophy nor science can provide any overarching purpose to our existence, nor propose life-fulfilling answers. That’s why our Western society suffers so many psychological ills and mental stresses. We see nothing that can alleviate our human anguish.

What we need is to heed the striking words of Ecclesiastes’ last chapter:

• “Remember your Creator” – because he is there! He holds the secret of happiness. He did not intend us to be miserable when he made us – our anguish comes from our godlessness. His loving wisdom knows the way to our true human flourishing, and he invites us there. And his word gives us the answers we will never find otherwise.

• “Hold God in respect and obey his commandments” – because he is almighty, and he knows you through and through; he deserves your respect; and the commandments he gives are his loving way of telling us how to find fulfilment.

• “God will bring every deed into judgment” – because he is just: there is ultimate justice in the universe! We are accountable to him. We need to make our peace with our Maker before we face him in judgment. 

• “Get right with God!” He is a loving God, ready to welcome you with total forgiveness. “Get to know Him and be at peace,” is the biblical invitation. We can open up to God through Christ, and when we put God in his rightful place in our hearts we will find true human fulfilment.

Clive Every-Clayton