HUMILITY
Do you believe you can create a good life for yourself apart from God? What would that life look like? The answers to these questions reveal what you believe will give you hope and purpose here on earth.
As we study Ecclesiastes this week, we will learn that our greatest hope is not in this world, but in a future one. When we lay down what is most important to us and choose to follow God fully, we understand our place in the creation story—we are the created ones, designed to live in obedience to our Creator, God. This foundational principle of our faith is challenging. Living it out requires a posture of humility. To truly walk with God, we must submit to his authority, obey his commands, and put our desires aside to follow him. To live as created beings, we must understand that we are limited, with no control over the circumstances we face in life. What does it look like to live in that tension?
We can flourish when “Living a Small Life.” When we humble ourselves before the Lord as his servants, we begin to find true life. First, we have to acknowledge that life is not about our personal gain and fulfillment. Instead, we have a role to play in the family of God. True purpose and meaning comes only from our identity as God’s children.
In Ecclesiastes 1, Solomon, the writer, introduces the idea that everything under the sun is “hevel,” meaning it’s all meaningless, fleeting, and unpredictable. Whatever, or whomever, we try to make the center of our world here on earth will always fall short of our expectations and will only lead us to experience great loss. There is no doubt that we all have seen or experienced the brokenness of the world and have felt the emptiness that it leaves us with. The writer will draw you to a place where you understand that nothing is solid outside of God, our Creator.
Read Ecclesiastes 2:1–11.
- As you read, write down a list of things that the writer refers to as meaningless.
- Out of the list, what are you tempted to believe will fulfill you? Why?
- In what area of your life do you need to take a posture of humility? What do you need to submit to God and trust him to take care of?