Meaningless, Meaningless. Is Money Really Meaningless?

If you read through the book of Ecclesiastes, you’ll notice that the author uses the phrase ‘meaningless, meaningless’ to describe almost everything.  He actually says “I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless – like chasing the wind.”  (Ecc. 1:14 NLT)

From money and work, to wisdom and foolishness – all of this is meaningless.  Sounds a bit extreme wouldn’t you say?  Before we focus in on why Ecclesiastes says money or wealth is meaningless, look at the last two verses of the book to understand the ultimate reason why all these things are meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

“That’s the whole story.  Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.”

Pursuing anything in life without realizing that your ultimate purpose in life is to honor God is, well, meaningless.

Now let’s see why money is meaningless…

Money and Happiness

The teacher explains in Ecclesiastes that he tried to find meaning in material things: homes, vineyards, gardens, servants, cattle, silver, gold, entertainment, and even work itself, but it all felt like he was ‘chasing the wind.’

No matter how much he had, it didn’t give any meaning to his life.  The only way that he felt any meaning to his life was to make God the foundation of his life.

But he also says that it’s OK to enjoy these things because they’re from God.  The key takeaway is to understand that you can enjoy the good things of life – just make sure God is the center of your joy and not the material items themselves.

“Those who love money will ever have enough.  How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” Ecc 5:10 (NLT)

Loving Money Is Meaningless

Money won’t bring long-term happiness.  I added long-term because I’m pretty sure the majority of people would agree that receiving a thousand dollars today would make you pretty happy.  BUT, it won’t last.  Chasing another $1,000 won’t satisfy the never-ending desire to be happy either.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.”

I Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

Hebrews 13:5 “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have.  For God has said, ‘I will never fail you, I will never abandon you.’”

True joy comes from God, and God alone.  Happiness is circumstantial.  Joy is ongoing. It’s meaningless to pursue something so brief and unstable like money.  Pursuing joy will make life so much more fulfilling.

Enjoy life.

“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have.  Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless – like chasing the wind.”  Ecc. 6:9 (NLT)

If you spend your entire life waiting for the ‘next best thing’ before you enjoy what you have, you’re wasting you’re time.  The practical lessons in Ecclesiastes encourage us to enjoy what we have today and to use wisdom in planning for tomorrow.

Money is such an integral part of our world, and to say it’s meaningless would bring a lot of strange looks from most people.   But if you realize that your purpose in life has little to do with money and everything to do with worshiping God, you too can say that money is ‘meaningless’.

Thoughts?