Bottom-line Wisdom - Solomon

That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

The seventeenth-century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “There is in the heart of every man a God-shaped void.” There truly is a space in each of us that only God can fill.

Solomon learned that bit of wisdom the hard way.

Some believe that the book of Ecclesiastes contains Solomon’s observations and his warnings for people to avoid the mistakes he made as he allowed power, wealth, and lust to take God’s rightful place in his heart. Solomon had it all, but he eventually concluded that those things weren’t enough. When he looked at what he had accomplished, Solomon saw that everything—even the rich blessings God had sent his way—amounted to exactly nothing. His life was empty and meaningless.

Early in his life, Solomon asked God for wisdom, and thereafter the Bible refers to him as the wisest man who ever lived. In his later years, however, he made some very unwise choices.

Despite God’s repeated warnings to keep him at the center of his life, Solomon drifted from the Lord and turned to other gods. After spending a great deal of time chasing power, wealth, pleasure, and respect, Solomon abandoned the God who had so faithfully and richly blessed him.

Without God at the center of your life, Solomon warns, life becomes meaningless. Without him, life amounts to nothing but birth, a lot of hard work, and death. When you make Jesus Christ central to everything, even everyday events have meaning and significance.

Have you made your relationship with God central to everything you do?

God loves to richly bless those who place him at the center of their lives. That’s the one and only way to find fulfillment and enjoyment, even in the everyday events of your life.