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Ecclesiastes 9 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
My wife and I were out to eat with another couple. We were enjoying the food and conversation when suddenly my wife interrupts. “I need to get out.” She elbows me mid-sentence frantic to slide out from the booth. As she stands up, she looks at me and says, “Oh no… I’m going to pass out.” I walk her out to the lobby to get some fresh air. I can feel the sweat on her arm. She sits down in one of the chairs at the front entrance to the restaurant. “Brad, I think you are going to have to call 9-1-1.” What!? My mind was racing. What’s going on? What caused this?
I pause and begin asking her questions. What are your symptoms? What are you feeling right now? She responds, “My vision is narrowing and my ears are ringing! Please just call 9-1-1!” I pull my phone out and immediately dial. As I’m talking, I take her outside to try and cool her down but it’s too late. She falls to the ground. As I catch her and lay her down I can see her eyes fading in and out.
“Stay with me!” I scream. “Please, don’t leave me!” The next 5 minutes seem like the longest ever. I’m literally begging my wife to stay conscious. I’m not sure if she’s fainted or if she’s dying. In a matter of seconds, the woman whom I’ve been married to for 15 years is suddenly escaping from my grasp. It was the worst feeling ever.
As the paramedics arrive at the scene, she slowly begins to regain clarity. All her vitals test out normal. They conclude it was most likely a reaction to her donating plasma earlier that day. Even though she ended up being just fine, it was such a sobering reminder. Life is a precious and fragile gift.
In this chapter, Solomon takes to giving advice. Unfortunately, his counsel is heavily depressing. In fact, this chapter is arguably the most depressing of the entire book. Why? Solomon’s intro centers around another evaluation of life. He concludes that death renders everything completely meaningless. The fact that we all die means that what we accomplish or do not accomplish in this life (that’s not spiritual) will one day fade away. The point of his pondering is that we must make the most of every opportunity.
He also concludes that time is never long enough when fate comes. We could be here today and gone tomorrow, just like that. Again, life is a fragile gift! Solomon points out that there is nothing that we can do to prevent our time from coming. We also can never predict when it will come. This leads us to conclude that every moment must count. We would be wise to live as if today is the last day of our lives.
This life is a vapor. How are you living today? Have you taken the gift of life for granted? What about those closest to you? Have you taken time to thank God for their presence?