Ecc. 9: Destiny

Ecclesiastes 9:9 "Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun."

I had this verse read as the scripture for my wedding. I know. It's a little out there. But I wanted something personal, more intensely pointed than 1 Corinthians' love chapter. (I know, that's intensely pointed too, but cliche at weddings). But the challenge is to forget about all the mindless striving and live my little life, enjoy my wife, and my time under the sun. Realize and own the idea that this isn't all there is, and that the pursuit of treasures under the sun is vanity. Loving my wife is not.

The grander point is that we all have a common destiny, and that is to return to the ground from which we came. Whether we were righteous or wicked, wise or fools. Death awaits us all, and then the unknown beyond. The difference in the righteous is that they have a certainty in the unknown. Which seems like a paradox, huh?

Man can strive and train and prepare and boast, but when it all comes down, God controls the outcome.

As for words, wisdom outruns volume, and it's not even close.