WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.520 Johnny Cash song today in church, right? 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:12.480 Um, for those of you who are under the age of 30, that was just Johnny Cash, and it was part of a song called Hurt. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:15.439 It's one of Johnny Cash's last songs he ever sung. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:30.000 It was recorded in 2002 when Johnny Cash was 71 years old, and eight months after he finished recording this music video, he passed away into eternity. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:38.880 It's reported that his daughter was on set, and on the final day of shooting, she says to him, Dad, it sounds like you're saying goodbye. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:41.840 And reportedly he said, That's because I am. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:48.640 When he sings that line, and you could have it all, my empire of dirt. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:59.280 It's a it's a reckoning on his life, which is a surprise because, in all conceivable measurements, he had it all. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:05.040 Johnny Cash sold over 90 million records. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.640 One of the most recognizable musicians in all the world. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:14.959 He had wealth, influence, fame, and an empire that most people can only ever dream about. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:22.959 People to this day, 20 years after his death, still visit museums to hear the story of his life, still buy his records. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:38.959 But by the time he reached the end of his life, standing at the edge of eternity and looking back on everything that he had built and done and everything he accomplished, he called it an empire of dirt. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.439 I want to ask us something. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.120 Why does that line just hit so hard? 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:51.840 Why does a song like Hurt really it just stops people in their tracks and makes them consider? 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.040 I think it's because deep down all of us are afraid of that. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:08.479 All of us are afraid of living a life and working and toiling and saving and scrimping and working and achieving and getting and getting and more and more and more. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:14.639 And by the time we reach the end of our life, looking around and realizing I've wasted my life. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:18.080 That's what a lot of us are afraid of. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.000 Does my life matter? 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:27.360 Is anything that I'm doing, is it is it worth anything? 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.759 Is my life more than what I have or I haven't accomplished? 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.520 Is there anything out there that makes this all mean something? 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.560 Those are not modern questions. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:40.879 Those aren't Johnny Cash questions. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:46.639 In fact, those are some of the oldest questions that humanity has been able to ask themselves since our beginning. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:52.080 And did you know that there was a character in the Bible that wrestled with those questions too? 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:57.280 3,000 years ago, there was a king in Israel who looked like he had it all. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:04.560 A king who had more wealth and more power and more influence, more achievements than anyone before him or even after him. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:06.560 His name is Solomon. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:11.599 You might know him as the wise king, the king who built the temple. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:24.719 But the book that he wrote at the end of his life is the story of a man who tried everything that the world had to offer him and how he came back up with empty hands. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:32.000 It took him until the end of his life for him to find his purpose, his significance, the reason why he was here. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.439 By the time he reached it, though, it was too late for him. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:37.360 But it's not too late for you. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.560 Because you can know that your purpose is never found in what you do, it's found in who made you. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.719 Open up to 1 Kings chapter 11 because this is where we're going to get started. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:55.199 As you're turning there, though, in 1 Kings 11, uh, just a little context on who Solomon was and why his story matters. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.840 Solomon is the son of David. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:05.280 Yeah, that David, the David and Goliath, David, the David, we heard a great message last week about how he lived a life of genuine repentance. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:06.240 That David. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.080 And he was next in line to be the king of Israel. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:16.480 And even before, even before the crown got placed on his head, God appeared to him one night in 1 Kings chapter 4. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:30.319 You don't have to turn there, but uh it says that because of the favor that David had with the Lord, the Lord appeared to his son and said, Solomon, you can have anything you want, anything you ask for, no strings attached. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:30.959 Like imagine that. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.319 It's not like a genie situation or like a monkey's paw type of thing. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:34.879 No, no, no. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:37.439 It's like you can ask for anything you want. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.279 What would you ask for? 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.399 Some people would say, I want a new car, I want the Tesla. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.279 Some people would say, I want a billion dollars. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:50.480 Pastor Nate would probably say, I want to be six inches taller, I want to be a big boy, all right? 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:53.120 But what did he ask for, right? 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:53.920 Amen. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:55.439 But what did he ask for? 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.319 He asked for wisdom, the ability to apply knowledge. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:08.240 And God was pleased with that request, so he gave him wisdom beyond anybody who had ever lived. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:13.759 And what follows from that is one of the most remarkable reigns in the history of Israel. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:23.040 It's just incredible that Solomon was able to build the temple, the permanent dwelling place of God's presence in the nation of Israel, something that David could only dream about. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.839 He wasn't able to do it, but Solomon was. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:33.040 He established trade routes and made Israel a power, a superpower in the Middle East of those times. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:46.639 Did you know that in Solomon's reign, the borders of Israel expanded to a point where they have never been before or since, 3,000 years later, they have never been bigger than in the time of Solomon. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.920 He established trade routes, and there was an economic powerhouse in Israel now. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:56.319 It says that silver and gold were like common as stones in those days. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:06.319 Because of his wisdom, people from all over the known world would come and sit at Solomon's feet just to hear him talk, just to hear his wisdom. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.399 His name and his fame had spread around the world. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:17.439 By every measurable standard, he had it all too. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:26.399 But even with it all, with more money and power and influence than you or I or anybody else will probably ever have. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:32.800 At the end of his life, Solomon said, I wasted it. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.439 I wasted my life. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.800 Solomon is one of the most tragic figures in all of the Bible. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:42.639 Let's find out why today. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:50.560 Because in 1 Kings chapter 11, we see that the world's answers will always leave you empty. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:52.720 We follow Solomon's story. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:07:03.439 From 1 Kings chapter 1, all the way through chapter 10, we learn and we read about everything that we've talked about to this point, about how he climbed higher and higher and higher, how he's done so many things. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:07.519 He had building projects, he he brought in so much for Israel. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.079 His name was known around the world, really. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:17.279 But in 1 Kings chapter 11, in one singular verse, it all starts to come crashing down. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:19.120 Look at verse one. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:25.040 The Bible says King Solomon loved many foreign women. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:26.319 And that's how it starts. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:27.839 It wasn't a moment of big failure. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:30.399 This is not like a David and Bathsheba type situation. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.680 He didn't have like a big moral failure at first. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:35.759 It just says he loved. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:37.600 He had a desire. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:44.800 His heart yearned for, he wanted, he had a hunger for many foreign women. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:46.079 And look, I get it. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.000 You might have heard this statistic out there somewhere. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:52.639 Solomon had, and I'm in this might shock you if you've never, he had 700 wives. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:53.600 700. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.199 But it didn't start with 700. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.600 He didn't just go off and get married all of a sudden. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:07:58.800 It started with one. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.120 And actually, his first wife was the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:07.040 And if you remember the history of Israel and Egypt, it's pretty dicey, right? 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.800 They got out of there out of slavery. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:14.879 And so when he marries a foreign princess, you know what happens between those two nations? 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:20.560 They handshake and they say, We're not going to invade each other because Pharaoh's not going to invade the nation where his daughter is living. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:25.600 So there's trade routes, there's security, there's influence, there's power there. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.920 And so it didn't just stop with one. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:28.959 He kept on going. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:32.399 I'm sure he justified it in his head and said, This is going to be great for Israel. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:38.320 So he kept on marrying and marrying and marrying until he had 700 wives. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.840 I mean, you thought that you, remembering your anniversary date, was tough. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.360 Imagine this guy, right? 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:45.360 But he kept on going. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:46.799 He had a desire, he had a hunger. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:48.159 It just wouldn't stop. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:55.279 But the book of Deuteronomy explicitly says that the kings of Israel were not supposed to do this. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.759 And on top of it, I mean, marriage is between one man and one woman. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:01.600 That's that's the Bible right there. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:08.320 So he went away from that because with marriage comes influence. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:19.279 Verse 4 says, When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart, notice that, his heart away to follow other gods. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:26.480 He was not wholeheartedly direct uh devoted to the Lord his God as his father David had been. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:27.840 He grew old. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.840 This was not a young man's mistake. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.200 This was a lifetime of accumulation of decisions. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:36.639 This was something that he kept on going back into. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.120 It didn't just start with 700 wives. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.360 He kept on marrying and wanting more and more power and influence and love. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.039 It just wouldn't stop. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:51.759 So he kept on trying to look for it, for significance, for meaning, for something else that he thought could add to it. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:10:01.600 But he ended up worshiping Ashtareth, the god of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:06.639 He built high places for these false gods in the hills east of Jerusalem. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:13.759 And it was so, so that when you walked up Mount Zion and you saw the beauty, the beautiful majesty of the temple. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.360 Imagine in those days just seeing a big golden building. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.000 It was literally covered head to toe from gold. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:26.799 And you would see the place where God's presence, like a cloud, descended, and it was so beautiful and so mighty. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.159 And it was like, this is the place where God is, right here. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:39.360 But then you look over to your right and you look at the hills that are east of Jerusalem, and you would see people killing their babies in the name of a false God. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.320 And it's all because Solomon just wouldn't stop. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.679 And it's all because Solomon just wouldn't get satisfied. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.159 He wanted more and more and more until he was in this place. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.399 So God's response is in verse 9. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:07.440 The Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who appeared to him twice. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:15.200 Here's the most important thing that I want us to really look at in this passage is that Solomon's problem was not that he had too much. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:24.000 It was that he was looking for meaning, for significance, for purpose in the things in his life. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.639 He was looking for them in things that were never designed to carry that weight. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:38.240 His problem was that he started treating the blessings as the point rather than the giver as the point. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.360 He wanted to look for things, accomplishments, achievements, women, building projects, economy. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:47.120 He wanted all those things to fill that hole in his heart. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:52.159 And so he tried and he tried and he accumulated and got more and more and more. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.080 But those were never the point. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.120 The giver of those blessings was the point. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:08.159 Solomon had everything that the world says should satisfy a person: wealth, influence, achievement, wisdom, all of those things, but none of that could answer the deepest questions that were in his heart. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:16.639 So let me ask us right now where are you looking for significance right now? 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.120 Is it your career? 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:25.200 If I get that, if I get that promotion, I'm finally gonna feel like that's enough. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.200 Is it your family? 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:32.639 Oh, if I'm a good parent, is it the next thing you're gonna get? 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:34.399 Is it the next milestone you have? 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:35.679 Look, don't get me wrong. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.679 None of those things are bad things. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:39.519 A job is a blessing from the Lord. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:40.159 Amen. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.840 Having a family is a special blessing from the Lord, too. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:45.440 That's a that's a thing right there. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:52.000 Being driven and motivated to have goals in your life, that is a blessing from the Lord, but those are not the point. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.759 Those are not the reason your life is significant. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.960 That's not the purpose by which you are right here on this earth. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:05.519 None of those things are wrong, but none of those are meant to answer the questions that your heart is asking right now. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.279 Because Solomon had it all. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:15.039 He had everything that you could possibly imagine, and none of it answered the deepest questions in his heart, which is this why am I here? 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.240 And does any of this actually matter? 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:28.240 Solomon tried everything, and everything left him empty. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:34.720 But this is where the story turns because Solomon didn't just search for the answer to this question and give up. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.639 No, he searched and he kept on searching until he found the answer. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:40.960 And the answer is in the book of Ecclesiastes. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.039 So turn there as we open up to it. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:46.240 Because in Ecclesiastes is where it's going to get good. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:53.200 We see through this book that the answer is not a thing, it's a person. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.960 Ecclesiastes really is one of the strangest books in all the Bible, really, honestly. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:09.840 Like if you think of Psalms as like springtime and like meadows and still brooks and peace and all those things, Ecclesiastes is like wintertime seasonal depression. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:11.360 That really is what it is, right? 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.519 Because it's a lot like the Johnny Cash video that I showed at the beginning. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:34.000 It's an old man, Solomon, reflecting, sitting at the edge of eternity, reflecting on his life and looking back on all the things he did, all the things he got, all the things he accomplished, all the things he experienced. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:37.600 And he's giving you an answer of what he thinks of everything. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:42.639 Ecclesiastes 1-2 is where it starts, and he just he runs out the gate with this one. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:49.360 This is what he says meaningless, meaningless says the teacher. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.360 Utterly meaningless. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:59.840 Everything is meaningless. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:05.360 That word meaningless just carries so much weight behind it. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:13.759 Uh, you might have seen other translations render it as vanity, vanity, all is vanity, or futile, futile, all is futility. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:24.960 The word literally translates to a vapor or smoke or a breath, something that you see for a moment, something you see in the air, and it looks like it has substance. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.399 It looks like it's solid. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.960 It looks like you could reach out and you could grab it. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.240 But as soon as you open your hands, what do you have? 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:33.279 Nothing. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:38.639 To show you a different shade of what I'm talking about, I'm gonna show you guys this. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.480 You guys see it, right? 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:41.759 I'm gonna try catching them. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.279 That didn't work. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:46.559 Okay, last chance. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:53.759 You guys you guys saw them too, right? 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.279 I'm not I'm not tripping. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:56.720 They were there. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:59.360 They were around, they were reflecting the light. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:00.960 There was a couple of them. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:02.080 I mean, I tried. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:08.399 I tried, and and as soon as they were in my hands, what was I left with? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.240 Nothing. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:11.440 Nothing. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.200 I thought, I thought they looked like they had something there. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:20.639 They looked like I could grab them, they look like they would fill my hands, they look like they would fill that void. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.720 But as soon as I got my hands on them, nothing. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.360 That's what it left me with. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.879 And look, I'm passionate about it because I I know what Solomon's talking about. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.000 This Hebrew word, Havel, it means that. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:46.559 All of the knowledge, all of the wisdom, all of the things he did, the building projects, the economy, the roles, the fame, all of that stuff, it left him with nothing but empty hands. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:56.960 Because I remember when I when I graduated from Bible college, I had a very clear expectation of what my life was going to look like. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:01.840 My first thing right off the bat is I wanted to use my degree, I wanted to use my calling as a pastor. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:07.519 And after ups and downs, after getting uh some maybes and some interviews and some no's, I finally found it. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.559 Seven months after I graduated, I found an associate pastor role in Vacaville. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:22.799 And I remember it was a July, it was a summer um Sunday in July, and I went with Tyler and we sat in the car, and I was like, yeah, oh my gosh, this is my first Sunday as like an actual pastor. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:29.039 And we went through this Sunday, and when I got home, I thought I would feel more than what I did. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:38.559 Because I thought, I thought that it was gonna make me feel like somebody, but it it didn't. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.480 My heart wanted more. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.400 So I moved on to the next thing. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:43.279 I shifted my focus. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.720 Me and Tyler, we got married shortly after that, and we set ourselves up. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:48.640 We're gonna hit a financial goal. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.359 We want a certain number in the bank account. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.880 It wasn't like an extravagant thing. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.960 It wasn't like it was gonna take something that like we needed to save intentionally for. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.079 So we did. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.240 We saved, we scrimped, we worked hard. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:02.079 There was blood, there was sweat, there was tears. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.160 It meant we're not gonna go out for sushi. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.519 We're gonna go out two for one coupon at Burger King, right? 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.119 It meant that some days in the summer, we're not gonna turn on the AC. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.480 We're just gonna turn on like four fans and blow them right on us, right? 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:16.000 And so we did. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:25.680 We worked hard for years until one day it was the first of the month, and I knew our paychecks were gonna hit, and I woke up early. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:32.880 I woke up early to open the Bank of America app and I wanted to see that number on the screen because I knew it was finally going to come. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:35.680 And I remember I woke up before Tyler did, she was still sleeping. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:36.559 It was like 5 a.m. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.960 I was just so excited to see it. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:49.200 And when I saw it, I didn't feel I didn't feel like it was it was enough. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.920 I mean, I felt accomplished. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:57.279 I felt like this was a big thing, but like I thought it, I thought I was gonna feel more from that. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:58.640 So I shifted focus. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:00.319 I didn't, I did the next thing, right? 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:01.599 We me and Tyler. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:07.759 Just to be clear with you guys too, I have never been much to like care a lot about like traditional status symbols for that set. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:14.000 I mean, I know you guys know, but like I've never cared about like my clothes that I wear or like my hair or whatever, right? 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.119 I I drove a 2003 car for years, right? 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.119 Because I just don't care, right? 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:26.160 But there's one thing, one thing ever since I was a little kid that I like was like a status symbol to me that resonated with me. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.680 And unfortunately for me, my parents lived in California. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.000 That's what they chose, so it seemed like an impossibility, but I wanted to buy a house. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:35.680 That was gonna be like my big thing. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:41.759 I thought, like, if I buy a house, if I buy a house, that's finally gonna make me feel like I'm somebody. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.039 So I saved. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.160 I saved and I saved and I saved and we worked hard. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:48.640 And two years ago, we started the process. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.160 We worked with realtors, we talked with people, we toured houses. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:20:06.720 It was a whole month-long process until finally in November two years ago, we went up to Caldwell Banker, we went up to Vacaville, we signed the papers, we got the keys, we put down the deposit, and finally, Tyler and I went in front of the house that we own now. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.240 Thank you, Jesus, for that. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.839 But I remember clear as day. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.079 We unlocked the door. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:26.240 Tyler was giving a tour to like some of our family there in the other rooms, and I went into where it was going to be the master bedroom, and I looked around. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.440 I was expecting to finally feel it. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.359 I was, honestly. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:36.079 I was expecting to finally feel like I was accomplished, like this was it. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:39.279 This was the one thing I wanted to do for years. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.440 And as I stood in that master bedroom, did I feel accomplished? 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:46.400 Yeah. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:50.160 Did I feel did I feel happy with the circumstances? 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:50.960 I did. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.200 But did I feel satisfied? 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:54.640 No. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.240 No, my heart still says, what's the next thing? 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:00.480 What are we gonna work towards now? 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.559 That's the human condition. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.640 That's really what it is. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:13.680 And honestly, we are built for a longing that this world can never satisfy. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.000 A career, a family, success, financial security. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.680 Those are good gifts from God. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:28.559 Those are blessings from the Lord, but those were never meant to carry the weight of our purpose, our significance, our meaning behind life. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:33.440 Solomon realized this by the time he reached the end of his life. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.559 Look how the book ends in Ecclesiastes. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:43.599 After 12 whole chapters of honest elimination, of like, I tried this, I tried this, and it never worked. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:51.039 After a lifetime of searching, Solomon arrives at his conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12 13. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.039 The Bible tells us this. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.119 Now all has been heard. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.920 Here is the conclusion of the matter. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.279 Keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of all mankind. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:09.359 This is Solomon saying, I finally done it. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:11.440 I found it. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:18.319 After every avenue I've explored, I found the thing that actually answers the question. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.599 And this is what you are made for. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.119 You weren't created to accomplish. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:29.119 You weren't created to get and get and get. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:39.200 You were created to know God, to walk with Him, to reflect Him, to enjoy Him, to live with Him, to glorify Him. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:44.480 And every other purpose flows out from that singular purpose. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:23:00.480 The restlessness that Solomon describes, how he walks across 12 chapters of it, the hunger that never gets satisfied, the striving after the wind that he's never able to catch up with, the bubble that pops in his hand. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:07.519 Those are all meant to point us to this: that you were built with a longing that only God can satisfy. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:15.839 That emptiness that you feel when you hit that goal and your heart says, What's the next thing? 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:18.079 That's not a sign that you're broken. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:20.319 That's not a sign that there's something wrong with you. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.599 That's a sign that you were created for something greater than that. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.720 He built you on that way for a purpose. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:38.720 So that when that appetite that only he can satisfy, when you try to fill it with something else, and it when you when it falls short and it always will, you know exactly who to go to look for. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:41.039 I describe my version of that. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.799 And I'm sure everybody in this room today has their own version of it. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:24:11.440 Because the wisest, wealthiest, most accomplished human being who probably ever lived, after exhausting every other option, concluded that our purpose, our meaning, our significance behind this life, the reason why we're here is to know God, to walk with him, to love him, to de to understand that the one who created us fully knows us and fully loves us. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:12.960 That is the purpose. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:19.200 It's not the things in our world, it's not the blessings he gives us, it's solely him who is the purpose. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.240 He strove for a lifetime looking for that. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:30.319 And by the time he reached the end of his life, he wasted it and it was too late for him to change anything. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:45.039 But today, that answer is available to you after not after you've tried everything else, not after a long lifetime search, but right here, right now, you can know that your significance is not determined by what you achieve. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:50.559 It's secured by the God who sent his son so that you can know him. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:57.599 Because 3,000 years ago, God answered the question of what is why am I here for? 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:06.400 Not with a commandment, not with a word, but with a person, his son Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.000 He is the purpose. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:09.599 That's the reason why. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.720 It's not anything else, it's just him. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:14.160 That's what it is. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.000 And that's what Solomon found at the end of his search. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:20.880 And that's what's been waiting for you all along. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:26.079 Because your purpose isn't something that you achieve, it's someone that you know. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:34.559 Johnny Cash, he stood at the end of his life and he called his empire dirt. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:38.960 What Solomon would have told him is that your empire was never the point. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:42.400 You were created for more than just an empire. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:44.559 You were created to know God. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:51.359 And the moment that you find your purpose there, everything else is gonna fall in place. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:54.079 Those achievements are still good. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:59.279 Your family and your home are still a blessing, your career still matters. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:03.119 Those are all good and great things, but those are not the point. 00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:11.759 Those were never meant to carry the weight of your significance, of your purpose, of your meaning. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:21.920 And when you give it back to God, you're gonna feel that weight drop off your shoulder, and you're gonna see that He was the one who was meant to carry that weight all along. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:25.359 So today I just want to close off with two real quick things. 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:32.000 Number one, ask God to help you identify what you've been asking to give your life meaning. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.720 Maybe it's your career. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:44.319 Maybe it's your marriage, maybe it's success or money or recognition or even being a good parent. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:53.440 Whatever it is, be honest enough right now and say, God, help me find what I've been looking for. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.279 Maybe you know it right now. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:02.319 But if you don't know it, you could ask yourself, what am I expecting to finally make me feel like I'm enough? 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:09.839 What is that one thing that you think that if you have it, that's gonna finally make me feel like somebody? 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:18.240 Once you name it, you'll begin to see that it was never, that it was never meant to carry the weight of your life. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:26.240 Then once you've identified that, I challenge you to have one honest conversation with God this week. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:27.599 Just one. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.200 Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, sometime this week, after you've done step one. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:39.279 And I'm not asking you to do like a formal prayer, I'm not asking you to do like a religious ritual. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:43.119 Just talk to God in the same way you'd talk to somebody you trust. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:52.880 You could say something like this God, it's not what I have or what I do that gives me purpose. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:56.319 It's you who gives me purpose. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:05.759 You're not asking God for a blessing, you're not asking God to change your circumstances, you're just asking him to help you realize that he was the point all along. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:12.559 Let this be the week that you stop chasing after something and you start seeking him. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:18.880 Because Solomon spent a lifetime looking for what you're looking for right now. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:23.839 He searched farther than any one of us are going to be able to search. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:30.799 And after all of it, he left us with one sentence Fear God and keep his commandments. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.319 For this is the whole duty of man. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:40.960 You don't have to spend your whole life learning what Solomon learned too late. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:47.119 That your purpose was never found in what you do, it's found in who made you. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:48.160 Let's pray.