Let's turn our Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes again. We have come across so many different kinds of inventions in our life, in our lifetime. Those who have studied science in school, we all remember how our teachers used to take us to the laboratory and show us how things work in science. How do you do experiments? You mix two different things and something else comes out of it. Now we are studying from the book of Ecclesiastes, and Solomon is trying to tell us that everything is futile, and he has his own reasons to confirm why he has come to this conclusion that everything is futile. Now in Chapter one, he says that everything circles around or everything comes back to where it has started. There is no meaning in it, and you will be forgotten one day. Therefore, everything is futile.

Now in chapter two, and throughout the book, Solomon is giving us a second reason to understand why everything is futile. Here, Solomon is testing his life. He is doing a life invention or experiment on his life. He is after significance. He is after meaning to find out meaning in his life. Therefore, in chapter two, verse one, he says, "I said to myself, 'Go ahead and I will test pleasure in my life.' I want some meaning in my life, therefore I want to give pleasure to my life to find significance in my life." Now, from his observation, Solomon is turning to his own life and what he has done with his life. We all know what kind of person Solomon was. We all know what his stature was. He was a rich man; he was the most brilliant man. And he is telling what he has done in his life. And he says, "I am going to pleasure myself and enjoy what is good." But then he says, it turns out that everything is futile, even the pleasures of life. He has a second reason to prove why all these pleasures are futile.

Now let's see what Solomon has done. When we read from verse number 4 downwards, look at what Solomon says: "increased my achievements, I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. He made gardens and planted fruit trees. He had made water reservoirs to plant and irrigate his cultivation." Verse number 7, he says, "I had acquired males and female servants." What a comfortable life. Probably there were many people around Solomon to help him in every way. Male and female servants to do everything. Probably there were people to cook for him, people to clean his vessels and clear his clothes, probably people were there to do makeup for him, to prepare him for the palace. "I have acquired male and female servants for me." Then he is saying that "I owned many herds and flocks"—that was the richest in those times. What kind of man he was. Then he says, "I have amassed gold and silver." Not just that, he had singers in his court. Can you imagine whenever Solomon is feeling bored, there are people to entertain him with music. Then when we read down, he says that there were concubines to delight his life. He is going to extremes to enjoy the sexual pleasures in his life in order to find meaning in his life.

Then when we come to verse number nine, he says that "I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. I did all what my eye desired." Oh, what kind of life he had. So many people around him. So much riches. He has constructed huge buildings and built palaces. He has gardens and he has wine all around him. There are people to entertain him with music. There are clowns to do funny actions to make him laugh. This is what the life that people desire. Probably many of us. At least I can say about myself, I would love to have such a life. What kind of life! He had all the luxuries that you can think in those days, in the world. But when we come to verse number 12, he says, "it's madness." Oh, it doesn't. I don't find any meaning in all these things. I don't find meaning to have so many concubines around me. I don't find meaning to have so many servants around me. I don't find meaning in building great buildings and to invest so much in my life under the sun.

Often we have forgotten so many things in our life and try to accumulate great riches in our life. I have seen many people who have no time for families, no time for church, no time for any spiritual activities. They are all after accumulating many things in their life to gain significance in life. Many people spoil their life in drugs and other intoxicating things just to hallucinate themselves and feel good about their life. You know what is the most dangerous drug in this world? I have read it in an article, where it was written that in US people go to jungles and catch a particular type of frog, and to intoxicate themselves, they try to lick that poisonous frog, and the poison which is on the skin of that frog, it goes into their body through their tongue, and they feel hallucinated in their life and they have some different kind of experience after doing this. Can you imagine how far man can go when man has gone away from God? How far he can go to pleasure himself, to give pleasure to his life, to find significance in his life?

Often, like when I was young, I ended up in so much trouble to add significance to my life, to show it to the people that how great I am, doing things which make myself great in front of my friends. I may have some name. Let me test this. Try this. Try that. Try so many things in life. Solomon tried everything that his eye desired. Whatever he liked, he did it. Whether it was wine or women, whether it was building houses and planting vineyards, whether it was hiring bondservants or musicians to entertain his life. But then at the end, he says all these things are vanity. Why? Why this is vanity? You ask Mr. Solomon, "Why, Solomon, all these things are vanity?" Aren't we running after all these things in our life? Isn't this world running after all these things in their life? It's all about significance. Whether it is in the church or whether it is in our workplace, we forget our limits and go beyond just to prove that we are significant.

Was that not the life of Jacob? Have you ever studied the life of Jacob? His entire life was circling around to gain significance in his life. Right from the time when he was in his mother's belly. Oh, Rebekah was feeling something very bad when these children were there in his belly. Rebekah asked the Lord, "Lord, what is this?" And the Lord replied, "There are two nations in your belly. Two nations fighting for significance in your womb." Jacob was not ready to give up. When these kids came out of their mother's womb, one came out first. Another came out by holding the feet of the first one. It is all about me. I want to go first. Probably that was the message. Oh, but he came by holding the leg of his brother. And he was named Yaqub, the one who pulls the leg down. Oh, one who was pulling the leg down. One who was fighting for significance. One who was fighting for the blessing, for the pleasure in his life. He is not caring about the promise that God has already given. By hook or crook, I would like to gain significance in my life.

He's ready to cheat his brother. He's ready to backstab his father. He's ready to cheat his father. Just to gain significance in our life. Just to have meaning in his life. Just to prove himself in front of people, he cheated his father when his father was old and when he had very less sight, when his eyes turned dark. Now Jacob told his elder son, "Go and hunt for me and bring some food for me." Mama heard this, and dear Jacob was Mama's dear son. Now usually older people think that moms love the younger ones more. I am the youngest in my house, and my sisters still feel that: "This Mama's boy." Mama knew the taste of the daddy. She cooked a good meal for the father and told her, told him to take this to your dad. Isaac is alone in the tent. Jacob approaches his father. "Here is the meal, Daddy." "Who are you, my son?" "I am your son, Esau." He covered himself with hairs. The father touched him and felt the hairy body. Blunt lie in front of his father. "I am your eldest son, Esau." Testing, trying to gain significance, trying to add meaning to his life. But then, life was difficult for Jacob. After Jacob has cheated his father, after he got all the blessing, he had to run away for his life from his brother. His mother loved him so much. He loved his mother so much. But it was the last time that Jacob saw his mother. After that, Jacob has never seen his dear mother. He had to leave his family. He had to leave his dear mother.

Where did he run? To his uncle's house. There, Jacob fell in love with a girl. Jacob wanted to marry her. He told her, "Uncle, I want to marry your daughter." He wanted to marry Rachel. So his uncle was a tricky person. Uncle said, "You work for me." Out of the love that he had for Rachel. Oh, he worked hard for years. And it was the time for marriage. It was the time for marriage. High time for Jacob. This was the desire of his heart. But uncle was tricky. And it was night. Uncle changed the person, changed the bride. In the room, it was not Rachel but Leah. Morning when Jacob got up, he came to know that he was cheated. When he cheated his father, his father could not see. When Jacob was cheated, Jacob could not see. Oh, what a great tragedy. This uncle, when you read that chapter, when we come to Genesis, when we read chapter 29, from verse 10 onwards, it says that "Uncle Laban's daughter Rachel." Then again, in the same verse, it says "Uncle Laban's sheep." Again and again, the author is repeating that he is his Uncle Laban. So that we may stop there and think about this person. Jacob learned how to cheat from his mother. But this Laban, his uncle, was the principal of the school from where his mother has learned how to cheat. He cheated Jacob all because of significance. He forgot the promises that God has given. He forgot what God has given for him. He forgot the commandment that God had given for him.

Now, then he's now after so many years, he's trying to go back to his house. He's scared for his life because the last word that he has heard from his brother was this: that he's going to kill him. Now he's at the river. On the other side, his brother is waiting with his men. Now he moves forward his family. Jacob is alone. His family has already crossed it. He fights with the Lord. Fights with the Lord. He wrestles with the Lord. And then he tells the Lord, "Unless you bless me, I'm not going to leave." It was this time when Jacob realized that my blessing, my significance, lies in my Lord. I cannot attain meaning in my life without God. Not my tricks, not my backstabbing, not my, uh, not my ways by which I get meaning in my life. Lord asks him, "What's your name?" "Yaakov, the heel grabber." "Now onwards you will be called Israel, Prince of God. I am going to fight for you." Oh, that's what it means. I am going to fight for you. No need to backstab. No need to cheat. Me who is going to fight for you.

Now look at the life of Solomon. He is running after significance in his life. When we read from verse 4 to verse 11, 12 times he mentioned "I, I built, I made, I planted, I constructed, I had, I acquired, I amassed." It was all about him. Solomon says, "My life was all about myself, but it's all vanity." Why is it vanity? He gives the second reason here. When we read from verse number 14, "yet also knew that one faith comes to them both." Now when we read from verse number 12 to verse number 17, he tells the reason why everything is futile. And that's one reason why Solomon feels that everything is futile. You know what is the reason? He's scared of death in his life. He's scared of death in his life. I have all this thing, I have amassed so much silver and gold in my life. I have done so many things in my life, but look at what happens. Oh, whether it is wise or fool, whether it is rich or poor, man dies. That is the reality of humanity. You will not just be forgotten one day. You will have to leave all that after which you are running in this life. You are going to die.

Throughout the book, Solomon gives us the idea that life is futile because death is certain. Now often older people say, "Now there is nothing left for us. All our life is gone. We have worked so hard for our children. What all we are leaving behind is for our children. All we have forgotten everything. We have forgotten family life. We have forgotten the comfort. We have forgotten this and that and everything. What all we were doing? All this thing for our children." If you have that argument, come with me to verse number 18 and 19. Solomon says, "I must leave it to the man who comes after me." Then he says, "and who knows whether he will be wise or fool." You say that you are doing all this thing, are chasing to be significant in your life, and you have done all this thing for your children who is coming after you. Solomon is telling, "We don't know whether the person coming after me is fool or wise." That's the life experience of Solomon probably. Because the one who came after Solomon, he destroyed everything on the first day of his office. All what Solomon had made, all the riches that Solomon had, all his son Rehoboam, he foolishly acted in his life. He did not listen to what his elders had recommended. Instead, he heard what the young friends had recommended to him. On the first day of the office, he divided the kingdom. It's all gone. All what Solomon has created, all for what he has run after in this life, all the significant things, all the fame that he acquired, everything was destroyed. Solomon is scared and he thinks these all things are futile because there is death waiting for us. We cannot avoid death. It is inevitable.

When we read chapter 3, he again says that all animals and men, they are like dust; they will be vanished from the earth. When we come to chapter number 6 again he says that in spite of everything, we all will die. When we come to chapter number 9 he says we all are going to leave this earth whether it is righteous or whether it is wicked. We are going to die. Why are we running after the significant? Everything will be gone. Solomon says, "You are running after these things. Don't run. I have already ran this race. And at the end, there is nothing." Now this happened in my life. Once we were traveling from Jamtara to Asansol. Myself, my wife and my son was there in the car. We were rushing from Jamtara to attend a meeting in Asansol. The roads were very bad in those days. So I took a shortcut and I told my wife, "I know the road very well," and I went through that road. And after 45 minutes of driving, we had come back to the same way from where we had diverted. And all this time while I was driving for 45 minutes, my son and my wife they were telling me, my son was telling, "Dadda, are we lost? Dadda, are we lost?" I said, "I know the way. I know where we are going." My wife told that, "Oh, we are lost, I think." I said, "Don't worry, I know where we are going." That's why people say, "Listen to your wife. She is like the Holy Spirit in life, right? One who counsels us every time." After 45 minutes, we came back to the same place from where we have started.

That's the same example Solomon is giving us. "You are chasing money. Listen to me. I have already gone after it. There is nothing on that road. You are chasing for fame. Listen to me. I have already gone after it, and there is nothing. You're going after achievements. I have already gone after it, and there is nothing. It's all empty. It's all meaningless. Because one day we are going to die." But what is the way out? What is the way out of this vanity? Solomon has one recommendation. Many recommendations, but for now I'll give only one. When we come to chapter 2 verse 25 Solomon says, "Enjoy your life." What kind of man is this? All this time he was saying everything is vanity, now he's saying enjoy your life. When we go after our own achievements and pleasure, we forget to enjoy what God has given to us. Often when we think about enjoyment, we see its negative side in our life. Enjoyment becomes negative only when you forget God. Only when you forget God.

Solomon is saying you should enjoy your life, not just here. Apart from this, five other times in this book, Solomon is recommending us, "Because you are going to die, enjoy your life." When we come to chapter five, at the end, he says, "Enjoy the life, enjoy the riches that God has given, rejoice in it." When we come to chapter nine, he says, "Enjoy, eat, drink and have a cheerful heart. Enjoy the life with your wife, because days are fleeting. Enjoy your life. Enjoy the goodness that God has given to you." Often rather than enjoying the enjoyment, we start worshipping it. That's where we go wrong. We should confine our enjoyment in the limits that God has given unto us. When you take your enjoyment beyond the limits of God, you end up in a mess. Here is a man who has done all what his heart has desired, by forgetting God. Enjoy because you're going to die. Eat good food, wear good clothes, have good friends, go out and enjoy the nature. Probably these things are considered as sin in our surroundings. Probably many people have, many people say that if you want to live a true Christian life, you should stay away from all these things. But Bible encourages you. Enjoy your life. If you want to know the true meaning, it is telling you to savor your life. Like you eat a good food and enjoy it. Just imagine about the favorite food that you enjoy. And how joyfully you eat it.

Solomon is saying you have only less time. God has given you a family. Enjoy the time with your family. Enjoy the time with your children. If God has given you a good house, enjoy that house that God has given. If God has given you the strength, enjoy the strength for the glory of God. If God has given you riches, enjoy the richness in the boundaries that God has given unto you. God has given you a car. Enjoy it. God doesn't want us to live a life away from this world. When God has created this earth, when God has placed Adam and Eve in the garden, He has filled that garden with trees. He has filled that garden with colors. He has filled the garden with different kinds of fruit. There was not just trees and fruits around the Garden of Eden. There were great minerals like onyx and gold in Garden of Eden. Why did God keep that? Have you ever thought about it? Why precious stones? Why the rivers in Garden of Eden? Why trees with different colors? Why fruits with different taste? Our God is an artist. And He wants us to enjoy what He has given. "Keep it and tend it." That was the command that God has given to Adam and Eve. You have to take care of it. You have to savor it.

I often tell one example. Everywhere, wherever I pray, I tell about savoring life. I have worked in World Vision for two years, and we were doing charity, and our focus was children in the community. Our project was one of the largest projects in India. We had 4,000 sponsored children under one project. Children from the poorest of poor in the community. So we used to organize picnics for them. But when we organized the picnic, and we gathered 200 children, and we took them to Delhi. It was the first time when some of these children were going out of their village. They have never even seen their district headquarters. And they are going to Delhi. So one day we took them and we roamed around Delhi, and while we were coming back, we stopped in a place. We bought ice cream for these children. There were many children who were seeing ice cream for the first time. They have never seen an ice cream. I was surprised to see that there are children who have never seen ice creams. They have seen it in the pictures, but they have never seen, they have never held an ice cream, a cone ice cream in their hand. You should have seen the faces of those children, how they were relishing over that ice cream. I saw that there were many children who used their fingers to wipe out all the ice cream from the cone and they licked it. And then they threw the cone because they did not know that they can eat the cone as well. That's what enjoyment means: enjoy the blessings that God has given to you with the boundaries that God has set.

Why God has given the commandments to Adam and Eve? Why, when they were vulnerable, God is securing them with his word for their good? God knew that they were vulnerable in their life. Therefore, for their good, for their benefit, for their goodness, God has covered them with the commandment. But when we let these commandments go away, we make a mess in our life. Therefore Solomon says at the end of this book, "Now this is the conclusion of everything: Chapter 12, verse 13, fear God and keep His commandments. Because that's all for humanity." God has not given commandments to you to burden you with some rules and regulations. Have you ever read the book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? You read how God is commanding them, how God is giving them rules and regulations there. At a very personal approach, God is giving them these laws.

What to eat and what not to eat. How to marry and how not to marry. Whom to marry and whom not to marry. How to worship and how not to worship. How to appoint people for the work and how not to do that. He is talking about holidays in the work. He is talking about how to make your places of worship. Not just that, he's giving rules for sanitizing as well. How to use toilets. Can you imagine God is talking to the people of Israel how to use toilet, that every person in the camp should have a tool, he should go out and dig the ground and excrete and cover it and come back. Can you imagine how personal God is going to give his command? If God doesn't give—one of my friends told like this—if God would not have given the laws for sanitization to the people of Israel, what would have happened to the camp of Israel? One of my friends says it would have looked like Howrah railway station. Have you ever been to Howrah railway station? It would have looked like Howrah railway station. God is interfering in your personal life to bring good out of you. God is telling you to enjoy your life to bring good out of you. Not to burden with some rule, not to burden you with some rules and regulations. He has given all these laws out of his goodwill. So that it may have, it may bring blessings, divine blessings in the life of people. And Solomon says, "this is all for humanity. Fear God and keep His commandment."

Life is futile because one day you will be forgotten. Life is futile. After all the achievements you're going to die, you're going to the grave. Your body will be, will stink after a few days. Look beyond the sun. Don't entangle yourself with the things of this world, with the achievements under the sun. Think beyond the sun. The people that God has given around you, have you ever valued them? The believers, the brothers and sisters who are around you in the church, have you ever valued them? As we have heard this morning, have you ever thanked God for the brother who is sitting next to you or the sister who is sitting next to you in the church? Have you ever said, "Lord, thank you for the brother who is sitting next to me?" Have you ever enjoyed the fellowship with the people? Have you ever enjoyed the blessings that God has given to you? We have only one life and time is fleeting. Your strong, efficient life is moving toward ruination, or it's dying day by day. It is the time when we get rid of our selfishness. It is the time when we get rid of our pride. And it is the time when we get rid of our "I" feeling like Solomon. More than 12 times, "I, I did it, I, it was my, I did it, I." It's never about God. He says we are going to die. Therefore, life is futile. Before you die, enjoy your life. Enjoy your life. Fear God and keep His command.

Enjoy the fellowship that you have with your Lord. Enjoy the fellowship with the people around you. Enjoy the family that God has given to you. Most, I have seen many people, they are not happy about their families. I have seen so many unhappy spouses in this world. People are, even our believers. They are ready to get rid of each other as spouses. It happens when life is all about me. Solomon says, "I tested my life. At the end, there is nothing. It's all futile." God has given us one life. Enjoy. Enjoy what God has given unto you. May the good God bless each one of us. Have a good idea about your life. There is nothing under the sun, but there is something beyond the sun. C.S. Lewis, a great scholar, once he said like this, "If the things of this world cannot please you, he said, if the things of this world cannot please you, you remember, that you are not made for this world, but you are made for something which is outside this world. Look beyond the sun and see the God who is the creator of this world. Without Him, we don't have meaning in our life. Without Him, without His commandments, we cannot enjoy this life." May the good God bless each one of us. May His name be glorified.