The Unusual Pairing of Ecclesiastes and Christmas!

What do Ecclesiastes and Christmas have to do with each other? I recently read a statistic that over 70% of all people approach the Christmas holidays saying they are depressed – some from grief of losing loved ones, some because they are more keenly aware of all they are lacking, and some for reasons only they know.

Ecclesiastes seems to be a dark book. Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless… But Solomon is onto something. He has explored all of life, the pleasures of this world, the wealth of this world, hard work and foolishness. He is one of the few people in the world that could say that he had it all! Yet, he realized that we all die – whether we are rich, have done it all, and own property and have power over other human beings, or whether we are poor and have nothing. We die and we can’t take anything we have possessed here on earth with us. In fact, we have to leave it here for others who didn’t earn it. This leads him to wonder, why are we here? What is the meaning in this life?

I think his question goes all the way back to Genesis – the beginning of time and the first humans in the Garden of Eden. Satan convinced Eve to take the forbidden fruit because he told her that her eyes would be opened. But the deceiver was lying. Her eyes were clouded and now though she could see more clearly the things of this world, she lost the ability to dwell in God’s presence and see the things of the spirit.

Solomon is actually getting a glimpse of what he is missing because of our human focus now on pleasure through things rather than pleasure through relationship with our Maker, the Maker of the universe! Without that eternal focus, our life here is meaningless. Jesus came to restore our ability to see and hear – to see God at work and to hear His voice instructing us which way to go, our purpose and destiny in this world. Without God, there is no meaning – only the seeking of comfort and pleasure.

This Christmas, as we celebrate with lights and gifts, let’s take time to adore and worship the King who came as a baby to open our eyes and give us true pleasure and meaning in life. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor, if we work with our hands or work with our minds, if we are grieving or feel on top of the world. He came to give us back our true sight – knowing and walking with our Savior, our God and Maker of the universe and all that is in it! Let’s focus and worship Him!