(Burt Bacharach asked an important question in his song with the title above.)

I read about a man who was incredibly rich and powerful. He was also a philosopher who was searching for life’s ultimate meaning. As he sought to find what would give his life both pleasure and purpose he decided to utilize the power and wealth he had to find the answers to his questions. He educated himself well. He experimented to see what effect a substance such as wine would have on his mind. He pursued every avenue of pleasure that came to his mind. He built a palatial mansion and surrounded it with beautiful gardens. Servants took care of everything. If he heard of good entertainers, he brought them to perform at his mansion. He had large herds and flocks of livestock. The bankers were amazed at the money he had. He became a womanizer. Simply put, if he thought of something he might want or thought he would enjoy, he used his money and power to get it.

When he stepped back and looked at what he had been doing, he found that he was no closer to understanding life than when he had started. In fact, he described everything he had done as futile and said he might as well have been chasing the wind. He thought this pursuit would give his life meaning, but even as he was surrounded with the trappings of comfort and power, he found his life was empty. And so he dropped down to a lower level of life and looked at things like hard work, being frugal, and using his time well. Still, he found no real meaning for his existence. Then to make it worse, he realized that the one thing he couldn’t even hope to change is that after all our efforts and struggles to accumulate power and wealth, we die and leave it all behind.

By now, you’ve probably realized that this person is King Solomon as he described his life in the book of Ecclesiastes. He satisfied all the desires of the flesh. But he found his life was still empty and pointless. He ultimately realized that life’s meaning is only found when we look beyond temporary physical comforts and enjoyment and focus on the spiritual aspects of life that are eternal. Physical comforts can be enjoyed, but they do not contribute to our having a life with purpose and lasting meaning.

It’s an old story with outcomes that are always the same. Solomon’s grand experiment and our own experiences demonstrate clearly that happiness and the meaning of life are never found in circumstances. We’ve all seen people with riches and power who were happy and some who were miserable. Many poor people have found happiness and a meaningful life while others who are poor bemoan their misery. And yet we continue to travel the avenues of self-enrichment that all end in life’s cul-de-sacs, with no place else to go. To put it another way, our lives can be filled with the fluff of convenience and ease, or they can be filled with the pursuit of things that have eternal significance.

I’m grateful Ecclesiastes didn’t end as nothing but a treatise on the futility of our existence. At the end of his search, Solomon found the one thing that will bring the right focus into our lives. Here is his conclusion:

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…Now all has been heard, here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1,13 NIV ).