A Life Well Spent

A Life Well Spent

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” . . . I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind. . . . So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14; 2:22

Solomon wrote the words of these verses toward the end of his life, when he realized how futile it is to seek worldly things. He called it “chasing the wind.” This king who had been given wisdom and wealth beyond compare had spent much of his life chasing pleasure and power, and none of it ever really satisfied him. It all proved to be empty. His priorities were out of order.

Tom Landry said that football was his god before he began to follow Jesus Christ. It was his top priority, and his wife and family were a little further down the list. Becoming a Christian redefined what was important to him. After beginning his personal relationship with Christ, his family became his next highest priority. He remained an excellent football coach, but that wasn’t his main focus. Faith and family ranked higher.

That’s a much more fulfilling way to live. Relationships are always more meaningful than activities. The most important relationship we can have is with God, and next is with the people we love and spend most of our lives with—our families. Nothing is tougher than looking at the past and realizing the ways it has been misspent, but if we don’t invest in our relationships, that’s exactly what we will do one day. Like Solomon, we’ll realize we spent a lot of time chasing the wind and neglecting what would have mattered more.

We’ll always have pressures that pull at us, responsibilities we can’t shirk. At the same time, we need to carve out time for our families—without fail.

Examine your priorities often. Order your life according to what really matters. If you’ve spent much of your life on meaningless things, realize it’s never too late to change your direction. Always bring your priorities back to their proper focus.

Uncommon Key > Never exchange what is eternal for what is temporary. Make sure your priorities reflect what is truly valuable.