Morning Devotional

July 31, 2003

“An Empty Road”  

by Don Emmitte

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These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" What do people get for all their hard work? Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-8 NLV). 

Ecclesiastes is the writing of Solomon as he went on a quest for meaningful experiences “under the sun.” His conclusion was that nothing truly satisfied him on the earth. His meaning was to be found “above the earth.” He found true wisdom led him to the Lord.  

North Korea has carved the four-lane “Reunification Road” through the mountains and deep gorges. It was built at great expense in money and in human life. An interesting feature of the highway is the almost total absence of traffic. The vehicles that do travel the road besides bicycles are mostly army vehicles and those are in sad shape. There are more vehicles in the capitol of Pyongyang but still the traffic is a long way from becoming a traffic jam. An interpreter for a journalist said, “Recently we began producing our own cars in Korea in the city of Nampo. They are called Hwiparam - it means ‘whistle’ in Korean.” The Journalists asks her to point out one of these new cars the next time she sees one. But she replies, “I’ve only seen it on television.”  

Solomon’s struggle was like this. Many people reaching the end of their lives see the paths they have traveled which were built with great expense. But the pathways they traveled are empty of life and meaning. They wonder what was the purpose of such a life of emptiness? Why did they travel that way and why did they travel this way? How they ask did they arrive at the end of their lives with so little of any importance when they contemplate the eternity ahead? How did they end up like this? Solomon wanted to find meaning in a wide variety of endeavors and activities. You can feel his frustration in our reading this morning.  

Although Solomon traveled down many expensive empty highways in his life, toward the end of life he came to his senses. In the last chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon sums it all up by saying, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Solomon came to the conclusion that in order to have meaning and purpose in life that God had to be included in the equation. A life devoid of the presence of God results in an expensive highway with very little meaning. But a life filled with the presence of God results in traveling paths that bring great joy, meaning, satisfaction, and eternal purpose into our lives. What kind of highway have you been building? Where are you traveling?