Death has been front and center in the media these past months. Sadly, they are mostly of the violent kind—police shooting civilians, civilians shooting police, terrorist attacks, military takeover attempts. And there are the accidents and “natural causes.” Then death strikes closer to home. A friend and brother in Christ steps into eternity after a long bout with cancer. Can’t ignore the reality of death. Death is no respecter of race or creed, gender or age, economic or social status, intelligence or skill. Everyone will face death. Death is the great equalizer.
It is this reality that causes the “Teacher” to declare: “Meaningless! Meaningless! … Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1.2 NIV). Reading through the book of Ecclesiastes, one can be overwhelmed by the litany of the things in this life that all seem pointless in the face of death. But when we are tempted to throw our hands up in despair, the Teacher puts some perspective on the whole matter. When we focus on death as the end of all things, when see things only from our limited creaturely perceptions, we truly will have reason to despair. But that is because we ignore a greater reality, a reality more real than death itself, namely, God.
When we focus on the end that death seems to impose on us, dread sets in, hopelessness seems logical. We end up living a life that is “held in slavery by [our] fear of death” (Hebrews 2.15 NIV). But we forget that life—and the benefits that come with it—is a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 5.18-20; 9.1-12). Even though the Teacher puts forth his instructions in negative terms (“this meaningless life” and “your meaningless days”), yet he insists this same life is a gift from God to enjoy and to make the most out of it, to live well. Put another way, God wants us to enjoy not just the destination but the journey as well. Though the reality of death makes life seem meaningless, a proper perspective overcomes that feeling of meaninglessness.
Choose to enjoy the life you have. Live it well, with God as your companion in the journey (Ecclesiastes 12.1-7). For this God is the one who has conquered death. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2.14–15 NIV). We don’t have to live in fear of death. Instead, we can celebrate life, and live our life in the glory of Christ’s victory over sin and death.
—Keith Y. Jainga