Ep 474 – Ecclesiastes 9:7-18

Time and chance. These were two commodities that Solomon believed drove the affairs of life. And both were in the hands of God. Time was something God doled out to the human race and, according to Solomon, it was in some kind of arbitrary and unexpected way. Nobody knew how much time they were allotted by God. It was impossible to know your death date. And to a certain degree, this made life seem like it was all up to chance. In Ecclesiastes 9:7-18, Solomon explores the futility found in a world dominated by time, which slips through your fingers like sand, and chance, which tends to leave your fate up in the air and the future, uncertain. As he has stated before, Solomon recommends a life focused on eating, drinking and merriment. In other words, a life of uninhibited pleasure-seeking, where you make the most of whatever time you have on this earth. And you should do it before chance steps in to rob you of the opportunity. Not exactly a glass-half-full kind of outlook on life. For Solomon, life was full of unexpected and undesirable outcomes. Which is why he tended to come across as so negative. His motto seemed to be "make the most of what you have" – whether that "what" referred to time, money, a good meal, your health or a relationship. But living life for the moment tends to rob life of its meaning and purpose. It causes you to put all your eggs in the basket you hold in your hands, while ignoring any future blessings God may have in store for you in the days ahead.