Imagine a candleholder composed of a mosaic of glass. It's like a little stained glass window. Our lives are like that candleholder. Each piece of glass represents something different. One tile might represent our work and careers. One might represent our hobbies. We have wealth and resources and talents. We have the enjoyment of food and drink. Another tile is our friendships. And another the romantic relationship we may have with a husband or wife. Let us not forget nature and entertainment: The beauty of a sunset … The way a good work of art or a symphony can stir our hearts. Each one of the tiles represents something with the potential for good in our life. Each tile is a gift from God.
Because of our fallen nature—our sinfulness—each one of the tiles also has the potential to become corrupt. Maybe you never found the career you were hoping for, and now you find yourself the victim of endless, mundane work that you have come to despise. Maybe you've become obsessed with one tile in particular to your own detriment: Perhaps you eat too much, drink too much, work too much, watch too much TV … and your lack of balance and self-control has crowded out other important things in your life.
Our Search for Meaning & Satisfaction
When you look at the different tiles in your life, perhaps you recognize a little of each of these things: the blessings, the corruption—the good and the bad. And perhaps you've struggled to make sense of it all. I think we've all asked the question at one time or another: What is the meaning of life? And more important than that: What is the meaning of my life?
In the midst of King Solomon's quest for meaning, he said, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecc 2:1-11)
For all the pleasure that King Solomon sought, for all the work he accomplished, for all the wealth he gained, in the end he had still not found true satisfaction. He tested all the tiles and found them to be lacking. None of them had in themselves the meaning that he so desired.
“And what does pleasure accomplish?”
In our society (the United States), we place a high emphasis on entertainment: Books, Music, Television, Internet—all of these things can enrich our lives. They can provide an escape from the chores of life … But what happens when we live for pleasure and entertainment alone? Have you ever sat around and watched television for hours? Or maybe you played games. Or surfed the web? Read the entire contents of facebook? Entertainment can be a much needed outlet to counter a life of work. But have you noticed that it only satisfies for the moment? At the end of watching ten hours of television you'll find yourself no more satisfied than if you'd watched for only one hour. It's never enough just to see one movie or to read one book. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. (Ecc 1:8) Ultimately, entertainment doesn't satisfy—it accomplishes nothing.
“I undertook great projects”
Many people think it is their achievements that bring meaning to their life. We place great emphasis on jobs that are deemed to be “important.” It is human nature to want to be successful, but what is it that makes a person so? Is it having a high IQ and a college degree? Is it having a job that earns a lot of money? Is it being fashionable? You can mold yourself into someone you think society will like and still not be happy if you are flying in the face of who God created you to be. The janitor who enjoys his work and makes the most of it will live a more satisfied life than the businessman who drives himself towards some unreachable goal, only for the sake of being who he thinks other people want him to be.
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? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (Ecc 2:24-26)
“I amassed silver and gold for myself”
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “If only I had this or that—then I would be happy?” If so, then maybe you've noticed that as soon as you have “this or that,” there is something else you feel you need to have in order to be satisfied. Wealth and material goods are certainly a gift from God, but if we fall into the trap of thinking that they have, in themselves, the power to satisfy us, then we are deceived—trapped in an endless cycle of greed in which we feel we need to have more and more: Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. (Ecc 5:10)
Money can't buy happiness or love or peace or joy. It can only satisfy when it is put in its proper place as a blessing from God and when we remain content with what we have; For, to be discontent, is to be dissatisfied. The satisfaction we get from material goods comes when we are grateful for what we have, accepting these things as blessings from God—not when we spend our lives striving to have more and more as though we could catch the wind.
Deception
I hope you are beginning to see—or are having a fresh revelation regarding—the truth of this matter. Each tile is a gift from God, but no tile alone can truly bring meaning or satisfaction on its own. It's true that a person may find temporary satisfaction—even life-long satisfaction—in these tiles, without recognizing the true source of the satisfaction, which is God. The tiles of this life are available to all people, regardless of whether they recognize the Source or not (Mt 5:45). Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (Ja 1:16-17)
When we fail to recognize God as the source of all goodness, and chose the gifts over the Giver, we become like the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32): There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything …
The prodigal son received the gift and then cut himself off from the Giver. He made the mistake of believing that the gift alone could sustain him (see Ps 3:5). But just as a branch separated from a tree cannot survive on its own (Jn 15:5), so we cannot survive and thrive without God (Is 42:5). Even Christians can fall into the trap of taking God's gifts—and therefore, the Giver—for granted. We need to remember that it is God who has given us our lives and talents (see Ps 139) and even our ability to earn a living (Dt 8:18). All of the true successes we experience in life have been worked out by God (Ps 127:1-2); and, ultimately, it is He who provides for all of our needs (see Mt 6:25-33) and satisfies all our desires (see Ps 103:1-5). God's beauty and goodness—His glory—is all around us (Ps 19:1-6).
The bottom line is this: When we look to the tiles for satisfaction and sustaining power in our lives, ultimately we come up empty. Chasing after meaning and fulfillment apart from God is like chasing after the wind. So whatever we have in life, whether resources or talents, careers, good friends, family … Or things like faith, love, joy, and peace—and even 'our' accomplishments—we need to remember that all these things come from God (see Dt, esp. 8:10-20 and 6:4-12).
Idolatry & Misplaced Trust
How we think of the tiles in our lives is very important to God. When the tiles become too important, they replace God in our minds and we fall prey to idolatry. God takes idolatry very seriously (Ex 20:3, Dt 4:23-24) and so should we. We may not think of ourselves as idolaters—you probably don't have golden statues to which you bow down and pray. But what do you rely on to get you by in life? Many times we use the tiles as crutches, leaning on them for strength. This is misplaced trust. Whenever we do this, we run the risk of falling, because the tiles are not really able to prop us up. They may make us feel secure, but this is a false sense of security. For our own safety, God likes to knock these false supports out from under us in order to teach us that He is the only source of support and strength we truly have.
Thirteen years after Abraham tried to work out God's plan in his own strength (through Hagar and Ishmael), God came to him and said, “I am El Shaddai [God Almighty]. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted” (Ge 17:1, CJB). Although “El Shaddai” is generally translated in the Bible as “God Almighty,” it could also be translated as the All-Sufficient One. Wrapped up within this name we see God's ultimate power both to sustain and to destroy. He is everything: This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it … Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. (Is 44:6-9)
I think sometimes we have the mistaken impression that we only really need God for salvation. We 'accept' Jesus, and then we go on and try to live our lives in our own strength. We eat our food and forget that God provides it. We do our jobs and forget that all our talents and abilities have come from Him. When we have problems, we go to our friends and ask their advice. We go to doctors to fix our ailments and, sometimes only later, do we go to the God who enables those doctors to be of any value. What did Jesus have to say in this matter? “I am the vine; you are the branches … apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)
The truth is: A nonbeliever can live quite a contented life without God. Perhaps in this case the blessings become a curse, for the recipient of the gifts does not realize how much they need God because of the provision they have received from Him in this life. Ultimately, however, separation from God becomes a separation from every good thing. In light of all this, let us not be like the prodigal son who turned his back on his Father and despised relationship with Him. Instead, let us be like little children who—in spite of loving the gifts their parents give—also long for intimacy, connection, and relationship with them. Let us be careful not to chase after life's tiles and be deceived into thinking that in so doing we can sustain ourselves. Instead, let us heed the words of the prophet Zephaniah and Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital] … (2:3, amp)
Conclusion
From all of this, there are two points I'd like to drive home: First of all, God is the Source: Every good thing we have comes from Him. Every need we have can only be met by Him. Therefore, a relationship with Him is the one thing we should seek above all else. Secondly, and this thought naturally follows from the first: Even amidst the sins and sorrows of life, God is there. Even among those who have failed to recognize Him, God is present and His goodness touches their lives, whether they know it or not. His presence now is the little touch of heaven that awaits those of us who, by God's grace, have come to realize that He is the only one who can truly satisfy all our needs and desires.
And, for those who reject God—who refuse to acknowledge Him—they will eventually come to understand that the beauty and satisfaction of those mosaic tiles was never in the gift, but in the Giver as He shone through them. The candleholder represents all of the good gifts that we have received in this life, but God is the candle—the light. Even in this life, though our sins have separated us from God, we see His light shining all around us. Without Him, everything is meaningless and everything is dark. We won't take our candleholder with us when we die. What then is left for those who, like the prodigal son, have chosen to leave the Candle behind, and who have failed to realize—because of God's grace and provision in this life—what darkness truly is? The total absence of God's touch and presence—that, I think, is what hell is.
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”—
before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Everything is meaningless!”
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
