meaningless.

That's what life is. It's meaningless. If you continue to not find satisfaction in what you do, it's probably for a reason.

"What is crooked cannot be straightened."

For the next couple weeks I am going to be taking you through my favorite book of the bible: Ecclesiastes. For those of you who know anything about Ecclesiastes, you probably think I am a little crazy. But it's been my favorite for the past couple years.

The reason that I love it so much is that it helps everything make sense to me. It helps me realize that every time I am not feeling fulfilled, it's because I am not fully committed to Christ.

As I look back at my life up to this point, it's been really special. The game of basketball took me many places, I have met a lot of amazing people, and seen many cool places. There isn't a thing I would change about it. No matter how many things I've gotten to experience, nothing satisfies as much as when I am fully committed to Christ.

When I have a bad day, I don't look back and rely on the feeling of winning the conference championship to get me through it. When I have a bad day, I don't look back and remember what it felt like to score 40 points in a big win. When I have a bad day, I don't remember what it was like looking at The Great Wall of China. When I have a bad day, I don't look back and remember what it felt like to see the Eiffel Tower at night.

I could use many more examples, but in reality...nothing brings me complete satisfaction. Don't get me wrong, in the moment I felt like I was on top of the world. During this quarantine I have looked back at so many vacation pictures because those were some of the best memories of my life. But you can't rely on a memory to get you through life. Feeling and memories won't be enough.

Solomon was the one person in the Bible who had everything. He has wisdom, power, riches, honor, reputation, and God's favor. Solomon was the one who originally discussed the ultimate emptiness of all this world had to offer. His purpose in writing this book is to make people realize that their confidence in their own efforts, abilities, and righteousness was meaningless. Instead, commitment to God is the only reason for living.

Again, don't get me wrong. I am not writing this to tell you to never enjoy life and that you will never feel enjoyment from going on trips, accomplishing cool things, and making memories. I am not telling you that. As humans we need those moments! We have to look forward to things. We have to live and love life. If we aren't what is the purpose?

I want you to understand that only the pursuit of God brings real satisfaction. You can pursue God and still enjoy all of those things. But without God in the picture...everything is meaningless. There is a reason you don't feel fulfilled when you don't pursue Christ.

It's actually pretty crazy...in my journal this morning...before I even started reading this...the question that I wrote to God was...Why do I feel like I am on desert?

I quickly learned this morning that I felt that way because Christ wasn't my only pursuit. In my regimented brain...Christ got about 1/4 of it when it was his time. So of course, my success at work, time with my family, and time at home wasn't filling me up. Today I was reminded that only the pursuit of God brings real satisfaction.

...and that is why I love the book of Ecclesiastes. Every time I read it, I am brought back to where my mind should be focused on.