Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. Ecclesiastes 2:26
Amy thought she was prepared for school to start. She was going to do way better this year. But no. Little by little, week by week, subject by subject, and assignment by assignment, she falls behind until she almost crumbles under the load. “I can’t take it anymore,” she whines. “It’s too much. I can’t wait till school’s out. ”
Flash forward to the end of the school year. On the first day of vacation, Amy sleeps till noon. Two days later the words are out of her mouth before she can choke them back. “I’m bored!” Amy howls. “There’s nothing to do around here.”
Life isn’t much fun if you just lie down in bed and collect belly-button lint. Without something big to be part of, you wilt.
You might be surprised that the best-known case of boredom in the history of humankind comes from the Bible. Solomon—the wisest guy on earth—wrote a whole book of the Bible to describe his lifelong quest for meaning. Ecclesiastes tells us all about his quest.
Right after Solomon became king, he asked God for wisdom. God granted his request. Solomon read, studied, looked around, and asked deep questions to find out what life was all about. His conclusion went something like this: “I have seen everything that is done under the sun. Look at it! It’s all pointless. It’s like trying to catch the wind” (see Ecclesiastes 1:14).
The king tried everything to find excitement. First he lived for pleasure. He surrounded himself with women and wild living. But he became bored.
So Solomon tried another route. Maybe he would find thrills by living for pride. He did things to make himself feel important. He stashed away cash. He undertook massive building projects. But even with success, he was still stuck in boredom.
“Oh, great,” you might say. “If the smartest man who ever lived couldn’t find his way out of boredom, what hope do I have?”
Thankfully, Solomon found the secret of excitement, a secret he shares with us. He wrote, “God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him” (2:26). The true path to adventure, says Solomon, is living for God.
Life becomes an adventure when you follow God because he’s the one who invented adventure. So it’s up to you. You can try to catch the wind and live in total boredom—or run straight to the One who holds your exciting future in his hands.
TALK: How do you expect to keep life exciting? Is your plan working?
PRAY: God, we want to find adventure and excitement by following you.
ACT: Are you stuffing your life full of things that give you excitement that won’t last? Check your schedule. And chuck what you need to.
