Hey, church family, it is time for Devo. If you got your Bibles, we're going to be in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.

Comes right here for Proverbs, which comes right after Psalms.

If you open to the middle of your Bible and go write two books, you should be pretty close.

Ecclesiastes is written by King Solomon, known as the wisest man to ever live other than Jesus.

And it starts out this way.

Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and 2.

The words of the preacher, Koheleth is the Hebrew word,

and it means like preacher or teacher.

The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Here's his thesis statement. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities. All is vanity.

Some translations will translate it meaningless, and basically what he's saying is, what is the point and purpose of this life?

Verse three, he says,

what does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

The most important words there are under the sun.

Essentially, if I could give me just a little hermeneutic license here, essentially what Solomon is doing, he says, is the American dream real?

What does this earth have to offer me?

If I were to squeeze joy and happiness and blessing and life and luxury out of all that this world has to offer.

What does this world have to offer me?

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Do you get the question here?

He's saying, if I leave out what's over the sun, like God himself, what on

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