Hot Pursuit

Introduction

It’s amazing how you can look at secular music and find biblical principles at play

One such song is “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, the Chorus of this song goes like this

“Sweet Dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree, I’ve traveled the world and the seven seas, Everybody’s looking for something”

These last two lines here, “I’ve traveled the world and the seven seas, Everybody’s looking for something” is what I want to talk about today

Is there anything that will satisfy

Oddly enough these two lines are quite similar to the book of Ecclesiastes

Which is easily one of the most depressing books of the bible

Today I’m gonna take you through that wonderfully depressing trip

Ecclesiastes is mainly the presentation of Qohelet, which is often translated as the Preacher or Teacher

So for the purposes of today I’m gonna use both Preacher and Teacher interchangeably

Ecclesiastes 1-6 describes the Preacher’s search for meaning in life

Just like the song “Everybody is looking for something,” The Teacher pursued all manner of things trying to find meaning. The Preacher was looking for something

He mentions romance, money, stuff, all the usual suspects

the Teacher is quick to suggest that these things are vanity

This is something that most of us that have been going to church for a while can quickly accept

Most of us know that lust and greed are not going to bring you happiness

Yet the teacher takes this one step further.

He opens up in 1:2-11 which are very telling of how this book is gonna be

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1

2 “aVanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

3 What advantage does man have in all his work

Which he does under the sun?

4 A generation goes and a generation comes,

But the earth remains forever.

5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;

And hastening to its place it rises there again.

6 aBlowing toward the south,

Then turning toward the north,

The wind continues swirling along;

And on its circular courses the wind returns.

7 All the rivers flow into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

To the place where the rivers flow,

There they flow again.

8 All things are wearisome;

Man is not able to tell it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is that which will be,

And that which has been done is that which will be done.

So there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which one might say,

“See this, it is new”?

Already it has existed for ages

Which were before us.

11 There is no remembrance of earlier things;

And also of the later things which will occur,

There will be for them no remembrance

Among those who will come later still.

There is nothing that we can do that will matter in the long run

We all search for meaning and purpose, we search for satisfaction in life, but we do not find it, and we never will in this life for there is only one thing in this life that we actually can be satisfied by

We can be satisfied only by Relationship with God

And we lost that in the fall, even in Christ our relationship with God won’t be complete till Christ returns

Most of us have heard the adage “God sized hole in our heart” and this is what it means

We try to fill this whole with so many things, but none of it will satisfy

The conclusion that the Preacher comes to is that we shouldn’t pursue all these things

wealth, position, status, sex, all of it ultimately doesn’t matter

Instead we should just be content with where we are in life and pursue only God

enjoy where you are at life, have good hearty meals with the people you love

For today we live and toil and tomorrow we die

All is vanity, so therefore we shouldn’t feel the need to pursue all the meaningless things that surround us

As Paul said Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

Whether rich or poor, high or low, we should be content and enjoy what we do have

And through it all God will care for us