Title: Rejoice while a man lives/Ecclesiastes 3
If "all things are in vain" as I confessed above, is life really worth living? Solomon here confesses the changeless nature of life as well as the fundamental meaning and duty of life.
1. "There is a deadline for everything under the heavens" (1-9,18-20)
During the course of life in the world, 14 things happen in twists and turns. 1) There is a time to be born and a time to die. 2) When to sow and when to reap. 3) When to kill and when to heal. 4) A time to tear down and a time to build. 5) When to cry and when to laugh. 6) When to grieve and when to dance. 7) When the stones are thrown away and when the stones are gathered. 8) When to hold and when to avoid hugging. 9) When to find and when to lose. 10) A time to keep and a time to let go. 11) When tearing and sewing. 12) When to be silent and when to speak. 13) When to love and when to hate. 14) There is a time for war and a time for peace. When life dies, it is beast and ordinary. Both return to dust (18-20). In other words, life is changeable, futile, and revolving. So life is happy, then sad, full of hope, and then into despair. So where is the meaning of the ever-changing life? Does it mean that the succession of toil and suffering is of no benefit?
2. "God made all things, and made them beautiful in their seasons" (10,11,14,17)
“And he has given man a heart for eternity” (11). Those who live by believing in God's providence for this world also live while looking forward to the eternal kingdom of heaven where God's will will be completely fulfilled. All those who lived by faith looked and longed for the kingdom of heaven (Hebrews 11:16). A person who lives with excessive attachment to the world is a person whose faith is not perfect. I would say that I am a person who does not really believe in the fact that "the soul of life goes up" (21).
3. "I knew that there is nothing better than doing good and rejoicing as long as a man lives" (12, 13, 22)
In the end, Solomon finds the meaning of life in simple things. In other words, believing in God's providence and looking at the sky, "rejoice" and live. "Doing good (for God and for our neighbor)" and "to live happily". It is eating and drinking, and living "in toil" and "in pleasure". To live "rejoicing in one's work". See John 15:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Romans 5:3, Phil 4:10, Psalm 16:3, 11.