While my wife had the car out of the garage I figured it was a good time to clean out the leaves. Revving up the blower I went to work. However, it was windy outside and as fast as I blew them out one side they blew back in the other side. It was a hopeless endeavor.
I laughed at the absurdity of my endeavor. What I was trying to do seemed so much like Solomon’s essay of despair. Repeatedly in Ecclesiastes he says, “All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (NIV) In “The Message” it reads like this, “It’s nothing but smoke and spitting into the wind.”
Solomon had tried everything there was to try in life. He satiated himself with work and pleasure. His analysis was neither very satisfying. Both the hard worker and the lazy man ended up in the same place: the grave. But he did conclude in chapter 8 that “There’s nothing better than being wise, knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes and give gentleness to words and manners.”
I guess I wasn’t so wise trying to blow out the leaves on a windy day. However, one very wise thing I have done and invite you to do with me. Make Jesus your savior. Let Him be all He has promised to be because He came to give us an abundant life. Had Solomon known Jesus I am sure the book of Ecclesiastes would be much different because Jesus makes all the difference. There is much meaning to life.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 27, 2002
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453