Read Ecclesiastes 1:4–8
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:4
From the human point of view, nothing seems more permanent and
durable than the planet on which we live. When we say that something is as sure as the world, we are echoing Solomon’s confidence
in the permanence of Planet Earth. With all of its diversity, nature is
uniform enough in its operation that we can discover its laws and put
them to work for us. In fact, it is this dependability that is the basis
for modern science.
Nature is permanent, but we are transient, mere pilgrims on
earth. Our pilgrimage is a brief one, for death eventually claims all
of us. At the very beginning of his book, Solomon introduced a topic
frequently mentioned in Ecclesiastes: the brevity of life and the certainty of death.
Individuals and families come and go, nations and empires rise
and fall, but nothing changes, for the world remains the same. Thomas
Carlyle called history a mighty drama enacted upon the theater of
time with suns for lamps and eternity for a background. Solomon
would add that the costumes and sets may occasionally change, but
the actors and the script remain pretty much the same; and that is as
sure as the world.
Something to Ponder
How do you try to ensure that you’re making the most of your life
while you have the opportunity?