Oceans Never Fill

The title for this blog is inspired by Ecclesiastes chapter 1. The book of Ecclesiastes is mournful; a tragedy written by Solomon–a man who’s wisdom and wealth surpassed many. As he aged he wrote a lament, admitting he had wasted his life on vanity, that all he and learned and owned was for nothing because he had missed the very meaning of life: God. Ecclesiastes is a lament for Solomon, but it is a warning to the rest of us, and it is a source of joy for those who have found the only thing worth value, that which is worth laying down our life and pride for: The Gospel. All is vanity without God, but life is beautiful, full of truth and value with him.
So while streams run into an ocean that will never fill, and the sun rises and sets; and all we do has no purpose in itself; we have hope because in Christ all things are renewed and redeemed for his purpose.
As life whirls around me, and my days are filled with thousands of little tasks and encounters that make it move far too quickly, I hope to take Solomon’s words as a warning not to waste my life, not to allow it to be meaningless nor vain, but filled with purpose, with all things: all attitudes; intentions; actions and words submitted to Christ for his glory.
On my own I am like Solomon, captivated by vanities; but thankfully, I am not left there, instead I have been given grace by my God to embrace life with him at the center.
This blog is simply an expression of that grace given to me. I am seeking to sift through the meaningless and cling to that which is valuable, full of truth and beautiful; and I hope to share what I find with you all.

Ecclesiastes 1
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, says
the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is
vanity.
What does man gain by
all the toil
at which he toils under
the sun?
A generation goes, and
a generation comes,
but the earth remains
forever.
The sun rises, and the
sun goes down,
and hastens to the
place where it rises.
The wind blows to the
south
and goes around to the
north;
around and around goes
the wind
and on its circuits the
wind returns.
All streams run to the
sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the
streams flow,
there they flow again.
All things are full of
weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied
with seeing,
nor the ear filled with
hearing
What has been is what
will be,
and what has been
done, is what will be
done,
and there is nothing
new under the sun.
Is there a thing of
which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of former
things,
nor will there be any
remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who
come after.