No Regrets

Picture by Caprice Miller

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”  says the Teacher.  “Utterly meaningless!   Everything is meaningless.” – Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)

This is Caprice’s cat, Laverne.  Like most cats, she seems as though she could be a little intense.  She could possibly be one of the subjects of the “Sad Cat Diary” videos.  The author has given sad cats of the world a voice that seems to be lonely and depressed.  Their very existence seems to be escaping the capture of the “authorities” or manipulating the “authorities” into giving them what they want by various means including “singing the song of it people”.   The funniest part is that you can actually see where the narrator gets the material.  Those that know cats can identify.  They seem so depressed sometimes.  They author of Ecclesiastes could remind us of this manner of speech too.  What a way to open a book – “Meaningless!  Meaningless!”.  You wonder why this book is in the Bible in the first place, at first glance.  But then that is when we should stop and take a look at the author and why he says these things in the first place.  If we do, we would find someone with what seems to be everything except what fills a void.  It’s a common issue even today.  But there is an answer to the problem if we continue to read.

Solomon was the king of Jerusalem and son of King David.  Solomon became the wealthiest man in the world.  He had numerous houses, a huge stable of horses and hundreds of wives.  Every time a country wanted to find favor with him, apparently, giving him a wife and horses would be part of the deal.  Seems a bit impractical, but that is how things were done “back in the day”.  Needless to say, the man had seemingly everything a person could possibly want – enormous wealth, power and possessions.  And yet, he still found it all “meaningless”. 

From what is heard of many people around the world who seem to “have it all”, this is a common issue.  Those of us on the outside looking in could not imagine how those with such wealth could be so empty.  But so many seem to be when we get an opportunity to look inside their lives.  You would think that at some point someone would look at a common denominator and try to figure out why this issue of having everything you could want leads to a life of emptiness and a lack of fulfillment.  But because of all the distractions this life affords, it is difficult to slow down enough and take notice of the cautionary signs that are offered.  Signs that say, “You can have an even better life.  Ask how.” 

As we read the rest of Ecclesiastes, we realize that it isn’t the wealth that caused the emptiness of Solomon.  It was how he used it.  He had so many God-given gifts and he was given amazing wisdom.  Yet, in the end he looked back on his life and realized he had disobeyed God’s directives.  He tells us “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NIV)  Solomon, with all his wealth, wives, horses, power and wisdom had serious regrets in the end.  Why?  It seems he forgot what the source of it was in the first place.  In the end he explains, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep his commandment, for this is the duty of all mankind.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV) These are wise words to heed. 

It is great to be wise enough at a young age to remember these words and always be mindful of where the blessings we receive come from.  But even if we are like Solomon and find ourselves past our youth with regrets of not fearing God and keeping His commandments, it isn’t too late.  There are lessons to be learned from regrets in life.  Allow God to help you understand them so that they become a lesson that others can learn from.  Solomon did this in his writings.  He learned from his regrets and left us the lessons so we could avoid the same pitfalls.  Let’s take the time to thank God for the opportunity to learn and to teach others how to avoid those pitfalls of life as we point the way to Him.