“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Isn’t that a peculiar opening line for a book?
These words, of course, were penned by the great Teacher of Ecclesiastes. If you’re familiar with his work, you know that he arrived at some interesting conclusions about the things which seem to satisfy the human heart.
As it turns out, they aren’t so satisfying after all.
With everything from education to entertainment, pleasure, and possessions, the Teacher experienced the best that this life has to offer. And even as he recognized a time and a season for all these blessings from God, none brought the lasting satisfaction for which he searched.
In this sense, it’s little wonder he concluded that everything was “meaningless!”
I have to imagine that a great deal of angst in our day might be assuaged by heeding the Teacher’s conclusions. Perhaps you even have a story of searching—a testimony of how pursuing your heart’s desire was as fruitless as a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14).
For these reasons, I’m certain Jill’s illustrative survey of Ecclesiastes will resonate with the depths of your heart.
It’s a 6-message series called Searching—and I’d like you to have a copy.
Why? Because as I hope you’ll see shortly, Ecclesiastes has the power to set you on a new course of joy and abundance in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s something Augustine of Hippo experienced most powerfully in the year 386. After years of constant searching, he experienced the same inner turmoil as the ancient Teacher, penning one of the coldest sentiments I’ve read to date, “within me was a famine.”
Augustine indicated a transcendent hunger that no worldly pleasure could satisfy.
This, in turn, produced his more recognized quotation—with which the Teacher of Ecclesiastes would heartily agree…
Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.
So if you find yourself restless today—or if you have a loved one who’s desperate for a sense of lasting fulfillment—then I eagerly commend Jill’s Searching series to you.
As you follow her deep into the heart of the Teacher’s search for satisfaction and meaning, you’ll also discover that, like Augustine, you and I have an advantage over the author of Ecclesiastes. Timing.
You can know with clarity a joy that the Teacher could only see in shadows. You can search the fullness of God’s revelation, assured that every one of His precious promises is true in Christ.
Looking to Him, you’ll discover the secret to an unparalleled quality of rest and refreshment. For in the immeasurable wonder of Jesus, the famine within us is graciously turned to eternal abundance.
So be sure to click below and request your copy of Jill’s 6-message Searching series today. It’s my thanks for your gift of faithful support.
My prayer for you is that the deepest longings of your heart will be satisfied and you’ll come to echo these words of the apostle Paul…
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12–13)
That is a secret worth fervently searching for!
Every blessing,
Stuart Briscoe
