A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This, too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment…This, too, is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
In the ongoing debate about “distance in golf,” we are often told that it’s due to either the ball or the technological advancements in equipment. Mr. Nicklaus is on record as saying that the ball needs to be rolled back.
On the other hand, we cannot overlook the physical conditioning of the modern player. This past week, the commentary about Sam Burns’ physique was on point—he probably could play cornerback somewhere.
Bombing it 300-plus yards off the tee for many of these guys is hardly anything new. “Sending it” is as common as tapping in a one-footer for the best players in the world.
Many of us envy this kind of power. We “come out of our shoes” chasing extra yardage. Finding another 20 yards off the tee is significant.
A close friend of mine recently bought a new driver with a super-duper shaft. I don’t know how much he paid for it, but considering the distance he gained, it was worth it—he chased distance and found it. Sadly, in my efforts to keep up with him, I now need surgery to repair a hernia.
Chasing distance is one thing, “chasing the wind” is another. This “chasing after the wind” mentioned repeatedly in Ecclesiastes is a Hebrew idiom for futility, as in, “not going to happen.”
It’s the author’s way of making an enormously important point: life lived in passionate pursuit of wisdom, wealth, happiness, and various pleasures without first finding the meaning or purpose of our existence is futile.
This Hebrew idiom resembles our Western idiom, “a dog chasing its tail.” When we use this familiar figure of speech, we imply, “So and so is exerting a lot of energy and accomplishing nothing.”
At this point, many well-meaning people conclude that chasing wealth, wisdom, pleasures, and happiness is ethically wrong. At the risk of sounding harsh, that completely misses the point.
Ecclesiastes argues in a significantly different way. His point is that chasing after all these earthly things can be enriching, satisfying, and meaningful only after we discover the meaning of life and our purpose in the grand scheme of things.
As Tim Keller remarked, “He [God] made us on purpose and for a purpose.” And finding our purpose in life can only happen if we first discover the overarching purpose of the world.
Interestingly, when discussing who could win the U.S. Open this week, Paul McGinley argued that Rory lacks the necessary ‘energy’ to win it because he lacks purpose. After achieving the Grand Slam—his driving sense of purpose for the last fifteen years—he has lost a sense of purpose.
I hope Paul is wrong! But what we all know deep down in our souls is this: no one can live a meaningful life without a sense of purpose. To have a personal purpose rooted in reality, we must place our lives within the larger true narrative of the world.
In these early years of the twenty-first century, many argue that we live in a meaningless universe. From this perspective, the only thing one can do is fictionalize a “make-believe” account of life and do one’s best to live in it.
Ironically, Ecclesiastes also contends that unless God intervenes to reveal the purpose of existence, we will continue to wander in the darkness of our rational, irrational, mystical, or hallucinogenic efforts to “break the code” of “The Meaning of the Universe.”
A meaningful and purposeful life can only be achieved when God reveals what is true and empowers one to live it. This raises two essential questions: 1) Where has God revealed the origin, destiny, and meaning of the world, and 2) Where does one find the power to live it?
Answers: 1) Jesus Christ and Scripture, and 2) The Spirit of Christ in the soul of a man or woman.
Conclusion: If you don’t know the story of Scripture, you will never know the “true story of the whole world.” If you don’t personally know Jesus, you will lack the power of living in truth.
Prayer: Jesus! Please open my eyes to understand Scripture and empower me to live meaningfully in its storyline.