Connecting Point: Winners and Losers

Every person in life is on a quest in one respect or another. Daily, people search for happiness, love, purpose and so much more. Reason and emotion make humans the pinnacle of all living organisms, and many exude exceptional physical abilities as well. On the other hand, “a rodent’s struggle for life,” became coined in American fiction: Christopher Morley’s book, turned into a movie in 1940, describes a modern problem: “The rat race”. It seems that we all want to win.

King Solomon was the third and last king of ancient Israel and for 40 years he experienced the high and lows of leadership. Most historians refer to the era as “The Golden Age.” Prosperity was at its highest in Israel, and Solomon seemed to win at everything. At the end of his life, he’s known for writing the book of Ecclesiastes, which happens to be filled with questions about purpose and meaning. He sums life up as: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” The human effort “appears” to be without benefit or purpose. Might we be wise to learn from a man who had everything?

“What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:3-9).

Solomon lived by the philosophy “work/save to win.” One can work enormous hours and save up large sums of money. One can build the biggest buildings and collect possessions galore, yet have nothing. Some will cheat and steal to gain more treasures. But does all this bring about significance and purpose? Never! There is a great façade or appearance that comes from winning and climbing over the top of others.

On the other hand, Jesus challenges us to live by a diametrically different philosophy, “lose to win.” “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospels will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him, the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels,” (Mark 8:35-38).

Significance: May your New Year be filled with it. Absent from God, life will never have eternal purpose and meaning.