Isaiah 9:6
Prince of Peace
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John 14:27
Jesus Gives Us A Peace, Not of this World
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 15:9-11
Our Joy Can Become Complete
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18
Everything is Meaningless
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
Wisdom Is Meaningless
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
Pleasure is Meaningless
1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die!
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Everybody suffers in life at some time...So pain and pleasure are two common things we observe in life...
What if your parents gave to you every single time you cried or ask for something -what you wanted?...What if one did get everything in life?...And all things were given to them and as a child as you ask for something you got it...Simply everything given to you, how do you think you would turn out as a mature adult?...How would your patience be, if you received everything you want growing up?...How would your self control be, as an adult, if you got everything you always wanted in the past?...What would one expect and your expectation level be when you go out or walked into a new room, if you always have gotten what you wanted?...Would you have respect for others?...And most importantly would you love others in a compassionate way, if you always have gotten everything you ever wanted?...
It seems there is sacrifice and suffering in life and it may give life meaning...Can we get too much in life, in terms of material things and does that somehow relate to pain, suffering, and/or pleasure?...G. K. Chesterton once said, “Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain...Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.”...
There are very few if any, who gets everything they want...But Solomon was one who came close...He had wisdom...He had riches...He had a harem of wives...He could have any food he desired...He could have any drink he desired...And it is he, who writes about the meaningless life, that everything is meaningless, utterly meaningless...And Solomon follows this up with telling us that wisdom is meaningless...Could this be part and parcel to the fact that he had been given so much that he could not appreciate what he had in his life?...Maybe he never had to sacrifice or do without or suffer in his life...Maybe everything was at his very whim and all he had to do was call out as the King...Solomon tells us that he denied himself nothing that his eyes desired; and he refused his heart of no pleasure...He has tried everything to find meaning and happiness...Solomon goes on to say he was greater by far than anyone ever before him in Jerusalem...
Ecclesiastes is not a happy book to read about life...It reads to me as a sad book, a very sad book...Solomon does not seem to be happy at all, as he pens this book...And yet, he has all the material things he has ever wanted, and is gifted with much wisdom...And Solomon is out searching for meaning...And he is particularly looking for meaning of life...Solomon learns, even with his great wisdom, he is unable to figure out the meaning and our purpose of life...Ecclesiastes reads, to me, as if Solomon needs some peace...With all the things Solomon had, he seems to have this void in his life, this emptiness...
But pleasures are just that, pleasures...Pleasures come and pleasures go...A pleasure does not last forever...Some pleasures are just pleasures of the moment, and those quickly pass...Then the pleasure is gone...Solomon's pleasures do not seem to have brought about any inner peace or a happiness for him...Maybe when you have ability to completely satisfy every earthly pleasure or any pleasure available to you (or even a number of pleasures), and you can do that pleasure over and over and over again, it is no longer pleasurable...The over and over again pleasure becomes weary and something that is just repetitive and no longer pleasurable...Repeated pleasures lose their splendor, when there is nothing to contrast the pleasure or pleasures against...Getting everything in your life may mean you have no where else to go to find joy -except to God...God alone is the one who give us that inner peace, that inner joy, that is not of this world...God alone is the only One who can give meaning to the life of Solomon, and to all of us...
To have this inner peace is a joy...Jesus brings a peace of mind in our lives through His Salvation...He is the Prince of Peace, He is Prince of this Inner Peace...He is our Savior...A Savior who brings purpose...