Remember God and Trust Him
(Ecclesiastes 12:1-14)
Yearly Theme: “Peace is…”
Series Title: “The Wisdom of Peace”
June 13th, 2021

Something to think about:

The author of Ecclesiastes, known as the “Teacher,” talks about the meaninglessness of life. Throughout the whole of his writing, he explains that the pursuit of (and acquiring of) those things that the world tells us are important, are actually fleeting, thus, they are in vain. After all of this, he concludes his letter with words of wisdom and encouragement to “Remember GOD and trust Him.” Let’s take a look…

Throughout the whole book of Ecclesiastes, the “Teacher” (Solomon), offers a long treatise on the meaninglessness of everything. There are five themes that he mentions specifically that are meaningless in these 12 chapters: Success, Work, Pleasure, Riches, and Wisdom.

Now I know that we talked about the contrast between wisdom and ignorance last week, and the benefit of living a life in pursuit of wisdom, but what Solomon is saying here is that no matter what we accomplish, no matter what we achieve in this life, our plight is death; we cannot take anything with us to the grave, thus, everything is “meaningless.”

One final not before we break this passage down today needs to be made about the word “meaningless” that is often used as the translation in this passage. Other versions translate this Hebrew word as “vanity.” The word that the author uses here is “Hevel,” and it means “vapor, or smoke.” So, the reader gets this picture of someone grabbing at vapor or smoke, but then realizing that it’s not something they can hold on to. This is what Solomon means that the things that I mentioned above are “meaningless;” it’s like grabbing at vapor and thinking that we can keep it in our grasp.

So, after pleading his case that everything is “vapor/smoke,” the Teacher/Solomon comes to the conclusion that the only thing that matters is GOD, and our pursuit of Him. Why? Because unlike all the other things we can attain in this life, GOD is the most real and everlasting thing that we can cling to. He is not like vapor or smoke; He is a Rock; He alone is salvation. This leads me to our key point today…

Key Point: “In the end, all that matters is if we trust in GOD.”

Let’s explore Solomon’s conclusion of Ecclesiastes in more depth today…

· Honor GOD and remember Him.

Ecclesiastes 12:1b (NLT), Honor God…
Ecclesiastes 12:2-6 (NLT), Remember God…

The “Teacher” (Solomon) of Ecclesiastes declares that all of life can be boiled down to the most important pursuit, the pursuit of GOD; this is the only thing that matters in life.

· Fear GOD and trust Him.

Ecclesiastes 12:13b (NLT), Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

A person is rarely obedient to those that they do not trust or fear.

Something to take home:

We can search all of our lives for things that we think will fulfill us and bring us a sense of purpose, but we search in vain if that pursuit doesn’t lead us ultimately into the presence of GOD. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and yet loses his soul? Is anything worth more than the soul? (Matthew 16:26)

Key Point: “In the end, all that matters is if we trust in GOD.”

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