FRIDAY: WHAT’S IT ALL FOR?

Oct 14, 2022
2 min read

Ecclesiastes 2:16-20

For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore, I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.

What if what I do today will not be remembered tomorrow? The work that is done under the sun is distressing to me…what is it all for? Shall I hate life because no one will remember the work I do?

All my labor for which I toil, I must leave to one that will come after me. Who knows if he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over my labor for which I toiled.

I will continue to despair if I think about all the things I have done that will pass away.

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

God did not create me to obsess about things…He created me to think about Him. For everything on this earth will pass away, both humans and works, and the memory of them will fade. However, the works of the Lord will not pass away, nor the memory of Him.

If I want to set my mind straight, I need to think less about me and more about Him. I need to think less about my works and more about His. If I can set my mind on Him, then He will lead my thinking to eternal things—the eternal implications of the things He has me to do.

Sometimes I slip, and I find myself thinking about me and my works, then I become depressed. “What’s it all for?” I ask the Lord. He responds that everything I do should be for Him, not for myself. My life is not about me, it’s about Him and what He wants to do through me.

Then I realize that my human thinking is flawed, and I am prone to falling into thoughts that do not contain God or His purpose for my life.

Lord, please forgive me for these sinful thoughts! I want to praise You and rest in You every moment. May Your Name be praised from my lips! Amen.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman