As of recent, my priorities have been out of place and I have been forced to re-evaluate what is truly important in my life. A question that has been on my mind is: what is the Christian life composed of? Pre-pandemic, I was focused on work and school and I structured my entire life around those two things and the small amount of extra time that I was able to focus on other pursuits. The pandemic has delivered an excess of time and so I began to fill it with all of the things that I felt like doing. I was thrilled to finally have time to read and watch tv shows that I had been missing out on. Eventually all of the cake that I was filling my time with turned to sawdust in my mouth. The things I had loved before no longer delivered their promises of fulfillment and satisfaction. Even my work began to feel hollow and meaningless. Everything faded in the background, and I realized that my priorities were sorely misplaced. I turned my desires into an idol and looked to them to give my life meaning and fulfillment when I should have been looking to God.
Finding meaning has been something that man has been trying to find forever. One only has to look to classic literature to see proof of the struggle of man to find the meaning of his existence. The writer of Ecclesiastes also struggles with this question. The writer is a man named Solomon who was both the richest and wisest man in the world. He had everything at his fingertips and was able to satisfy every desire he had. Through this book in the bible, he puts this search for meaning into perspective when he arrives at the conclusion that “all is vanity”. He looked for meaning in everything that he desired and still came to the conclusion that all of the things that he was chasing after are meaningless, except for the only thing that truly matters which is fearing God and keeping his commandments.
In the end, what we experienced, the knowledge that we have, and the achievements that we have done all pale in comparison to loving God. Our desires should not become our idols. It is so easy to become dead to God with the distractions of this world, but the Christian life is all about becoming more like God and conforming our desires to His desires through obedience.
All the things that we do should give glory to God. Psalm 115:1 demonstrates this point when it says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” In the end, it is not about us and our own desires and wants, but it is about living in God’s narrative and using the talents that he has given us to point others to Him and give Him glory. Only then in pursuit of His glory can we find meaning.