Ecclesiastes coming up!

Last Monday, when my Clay study group decided on Ecclesiastes as the book that we will be studying next, I was pretty happy. Not only that, something inside me clicked - it's a sort of warm, positive feeling, & it's like something inside me say "hey, wow, that's really good". Strange, that - I can't remember ever being that "excited" over a decision to study a particular book of the Bible. I can't quite put a finger on what caused all those feelings. Maybe it was because one of the Clayers said she liked & was encouraged by Ecclesiastes (which she looked at in her own time)?

So just the other day, I decided to have a read of Ecclesiastes. Actually, I must confess that before I got on to Ecclesiastes 1, I read the "preliminary overview" to Ecclesiastes. Well, it was right there (I use Life Application Study Bible) so I had to read! The "preliminary overview" gave me a good idea on what Ecclesiastes is about, & what I can expect from studying it. Here is my summary in a nutshell of what I gathered from reading the "preliminary overview":
The author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, is trying to teach us that life without God is empty & meaningless. He tells readers of the book that things like knowledge, wealth/money, pleasure, work or popularity will not lead us to find meaning in life. Seeking those things will ultimately lead to disappointment. Instead, true satisfaction comes from seeking a relationship with the Lord, & knowing God's purpose for our lives. All of that was based on Solomon's own experience, & Ecclesiastes reflects on Solomon's personal life journey. He was looking back at his life, & was trying to spare his readers from learning through their own experience that everything apart from God is empty.

The "preliminary overview" captivated & inspired me. It immediately showed me why I had been excited when Ecclesiastes was chosen for our next study. You see, I have been thinking a lot about my life situation, & where my life is heading. More specifically, I have been thinking (& even talking to some friends) about my work & career, climbing the corporate ladder, future aspirations, my future earning capacity, wealth-building ambitions, & how to get there. There's also some other things which I won't elaborate on here. I have also been reflecting on timeframes to achieve various milestones, i.e. thinking along the lines of what I want to achieve in X number of years, what I want to own in X number of years, what I want to accumulate by the time I am X years old. Those are all secular stuff. I have poured so much thought into all those secular things, & so very little thought to spiritual things. As times, I feel like my head is getting "messed up" the more & more I think a lot about all that secular things. Yet I keep thinking about them. But on the other hand, how much thought have I given into how I can read the Bible more regularly, how I can devote more time to prayer, how I can be an encouragement to Christian brothers & sisters, & how I can improve my relationship with God? Not much at all.

All that secular stuff that have been plaguing my mind are exactly the stuff that Ecclesiastes warn against seeking, as they will lead to disappointment & emptiness. That is why I was excited when Clay decided to study Ecclesiastes. Because I feel that here is something that can help change my mind & priorities. Because I feel that here is a book that can come to my rescue, & prevent my head from being further "messed up" by all those secular things. So one could say that given all that I said above, it is timely that we will be studying Ecclesiastes next - because I think I really need to pay heed to whatever Ecclesiastes has to teach. My hope is that Ecclesiastes could kick-start my spiritual life & start afresh. I hope that the book will help me recommit myself to God, & focus on Him & seek Him first instead of pursuing those secular things.

It's going to be very difficult, because it might be relatively easy for me to recognise my issues, but difficult to actually act on them. Because it is so easy to be tempted, & it is so easy to be sucked into not doing what is right. So I hope that tomorrow's study (the first) on Ecclesiastes will be the first step in the right direction. Roll on the Ecclesiastes studies!

By the way, I did read Ecclesiastes 1. It doesn't mean I know a lot about the passage or that I will be able to answer everything about the passage. But what I can say is that the tone of the passage does seem pessimistic. This is meaningless, that is meaningless - looks like it's saying all things are meaningless without God. Things happen over & over again, all of that is meaningless.....Hmmm, well, we can discuss this further at Clay tomorrow, yeah??? And I will see if I can post reflections on the Ecclesiastes studies as I go. We'll see what happens.....