In the famous song, “Glory Days”, Bruce Springsteen sings about a guy who was a great baseball player back in high school. When life gets tough and we are going through difficult times, we like to think about the “glory days”. Most of us romanticize the past and remember it being way better than it actually was.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon is at the end of his life, and he is searching for the true meaning of life. King Solomon was the wisest and wealthiest man to ever live. He built the Temple of God as well as his own kingdom. He had extreme wealth and fame. He pursued everything that this life has to offer including riches, passion, power, and pleasures.
And King Solomon says, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14).” King Solomon had everything the world has to offer, and he says that it’s all vanity. In King Solomon’s old age, he got caught up in the ways of the world, and he turned from God. He lost his eternal perspective, and his focus becomes everything “under the sun”.
And everything “under the sun” is meaningless if we lose our faith and eternal perspective. When we lose our faith, our focus turns from God to ourselves. And when we focus on ourselves, we become a vain person. The opposite of vanity is glory. The glory days are not those fond memories of the past. Solomon says, Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions (Ecclesiastes 7:10).” The glory days are not in the past. In fact, when our hope is in Je-sus, our better days are in the future. The best is yet to come!
Through his journey of pursuing the true meaning of life, King Solo-mon realizes that everything “under the sun” is meaningless. Living for ourselves is vanity. Instead of living for our selfish desires, we should live for God and his glory. True fulfillment in life comes from receiving eternal life. Ecclesiastes 3:11b says, “God has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” We are all born with a desire to live forever. This is how God made us. And there will always be something missing in our lives until we find eternal life through faith in Jesus.
The glory days are not the good ole days from our past. The glory days are the days we will spend with God in Heaven for all eternity. The Psalmist says in Psalm 84:10, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” One day in Heaven with God is better than a thousand anywhere else. Our hope is in Heaven, and the glory days are still in front of us.
King Solomon sums up the meaning of life in the last two verses of the Book of Ecclesiastes. “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. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)”. Here is the end of the matter: Fear God and follow his commands. Everything under the sun is meaningless. But as followers of Jesus, we are not living for everything this world has to offer. We are living for God and his glory. And the true “glory days” are yet to come!
Jonathan Howes has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Jacksonville State University and a Master in Divinity Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the lead pastor for Graystone Church. Locations include the Ozora Campus: 1551 Ozora Road Loganville, GA 30052, the Walton Campus: 723 N Broad St Monroe, GA 30655 and the Oconee Campus: 1275 Lenru Road Bogart, GA 30622.
Phone: (770) 466-3159
Email: info@graystonechurch.com
Website: GraystoneChurch.com
Blog: http://toliveischrist.cc
Twitter: @JohnnyHowes
