TODAY IN THE WORD
In the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? the host asks the contestant progressively more difficult questions. The first questions have obvious answers, and it is fairly simple to pick the correct answer from the four options. But as the prize gets larger, the questions get more difficult.

If you’ve ever played along with the show, you may feel fairly confident about your own intelligence—until it passes the $32,000 mark. At that point, the questions get much more specific and the field of knowledge begins to narrow. Even a well-educated person realizes he may not know everything there is to know. The game is not as easy as it initially appeared.

The ending of the book of Ecclesiastes shows that this game of life is not as easy as first thought. Chapter 11 begins with the command, “Cast your bread upon the waters” (v. 1). The chapter continues to echo the overall theme of Ecclesiastes—life occurs in the cycle of history. What has been learned at the end of this journey?

Even our best-laid plans can go awry. Our job is not to figure out what lies ahead, but rather to do the task at hand: “you do not know the path of the wind” (v. 5). There is so much we do not know. Scripture cautions against relying on our own knowledge, intelligence, or understanding. “You cannot understand the work of God” (v. 5).

Though we cannot know the future, we are still advised to take certain actions: “let not your hands be idle” (v. 6). No matter how old we become, we should “enjoy” each year (v. 8). “Be happy” when we are young and “let your heart give you joy” (v. 9).

The true key to meaning, suggests Ecclesiastes, is not exclusive investment in work or planning for the future. It is not found in ourselves or in endless self-analysis. The key is to focus on the Creator: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth” (12:1). We are to look for God who will satisfy the craving for meaning and purpose in our lives.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
An epitaph is the inscription that will be engraved on your gravestone. These few words will summarize who you are and what your life represented. What will your epitaph read? What has your life meant to others? What would you like it to say? It’s never too late to “Remember your Creator” and make a choice to live a life with eternal purpose. As the words of a classic poem remind us, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

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