I’m sure that some of you find yourselves saying where is the fulfilment in my daily routine? For instance many of us insist that we must matriculate in Universities to receive that coveted Bachelor, Masters, or Doctoral Degree.  In some cases we found a career which would be in sync with our purpose that we’ve been designed to fulfill.  After securing a job we found the compatible spouse that was not perfect, yet we loved being around because he/she just clicked!  Next it was the baby phase of life when the majority of our daily routine was centered around our child (ren).  This was a time of sleep deprivation, to comfort the crying child, cleaning the disgusting diapers, and making sure this little bundle of love didn’t hurt themselves.  Only to find out later, that they would develop their own friends, their own convictions about life that seemed to be totally incompatible with our worldview.  Figuratively, we were the boat that allowed our experiences to navigate and give purpose to our lives. However, when we were no longer useful our experiences tied us to the dock of emptiness.  Where we naively waited for another experience to come and fulfill us. 
 
This I believe is at the heart of Solomon when he was led by the Holy Spirit to pen the book of Ecclesiastes.  If you listen closely, to Solomon’s voice through the pages of this wisdom book, you will sense that he realizes that much of what he did wasn’t really with God in view.  That his life was a series of experiential boat rides onto the sea of limited earthly existence; which he thought would fulfill emptiness within his life.   Only to discover that making himself available to a myriad of experiences did not resolve the lack of fulfillment in his life.  Solomon concluded that life was empty unless one principle was at the bedrock of everything he did. 
 
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13
 
In essence everything we do is a reason to reverence and obey the commandments of God.  So if our name is on the lips of many, if our achievements are noted generationally, if our children are admired for their phenomenal upbringing, and we possess an abundance of money.  Solomon advises that it’s all nothing unless we esteemed God and cautiously evaluated the use of what we have been privileged to manage through His commands.  Unless we love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and our neighbor as ourselves as we’re dealing with each experience in life we’ve missed the entire purpose of living. 
 
Blessings,
Bishop Tylos Jackson, Jr.