Ecclesiastes 2:1

In chapter 1, Solomon grabs our attention with his pathetic cry: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" He proceeds from the general "Everything is meaningless!" (1:2-11) to the specific "Wisdom is meaningless!" (1:12-18) and will continue to spiral downward in chapter 2 ("Pleasures are meaningless," 2:1-11, "Wisdom and folly are meaningless," 2:12-16, and "Toil is meaningless," 2:17-26), but always in the background is the unasked question: "Is everything really meaningless?" which he will answer in chapter 3, that there is in fact a time for everything; a time given by God.

Paul sums up the discouraging nature of seemingly meaningless human labor by pointing us toward the labor of God:

"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." (Romans 8:20,21)

2 I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity. (RSV)

Solomon opens the second chapter of Ecclesiastes with a test, but it's a test of pleasure. Was he thinking of us in the Twenty-first century? How many people think that "the pursuit of happiness" means that our government must supply us with happiness? Or that happiness itself is a human right, rather than its pursuit?

What things do people think will make them happy? Most of us are like children when this question is raised. What a blessing to be able to say, "I am happy, and I am content, just as I am." What a rare day when we can say, "I wouldn't change a thing." Not because of the blue sky; not because of the cooperation of the thermostat and the barometer, but because of Christ on the cross, and the work of the word and the Holy Spirit in my heart.