Ecclesiastes 1:13 English Standard Version (ESV) And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

It was King Solomon’s wish that he should be granted wisdom to rule his people. God honored Solomon’s request by granting him more wisdom than any human could possibly attain on their own.

Solomon’s Israel was elevated to the highest level of human achievements in history if we were to study them with the right focus on treaties, trade, and common good for everyone. No king ever achieved such lofty goals since.

Yet when it came down to discovering everything under the sun by wisdom it made Solomon unhappy. Wisdom does not achieve happiness.

If we were to take a survey of what people do to achieve happiness, we would discover a wide range of activities and attitudes about happiness. In the general sense happiness is fleeting. What makes one happy today may only last a short time and then life events will overtake that emotion with worry and fear, or pain.

We might look to what Solomon was seeking to understand where things went wrong. What is being done in the world? More than what is being done, why is it happening? What motivates people in the world?

It doesn’t take long to discover that search will make you unhappy because it deals with the most selfish and unloving motives in man’s fallen nature. Why ask why? Understanding their nature will not change their nature. 

It might be that Solomon wanted to use his great wisdom to change the nature of mankind and he discovered that wisdom alone changes nothing.

It wasn’t until Jesus came and showed us what love can do that we discovered that only love can change the nature of mankind. When we accept Christ and become this new creation in Christ is when we discover what true happiness means.

Isaiah 45:9 English Standard Version (ESV) “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?

Happiness is found in embracing the change God is performing in us.

Romans 15:29 English Standard Version (ESV) I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing[of the gospel] of Christ.

The term “of the gospel” replaces “of the blessing” in some versions. The reason for the change may be to emphasize the blessings that come from preaching the gospel, reading the gospel, and living the gospel. It is a blessing to see the power of the gospel changing lives for the better.

When we study historical figures we can read about them, their legacy, actions and results. In this sense we know about people like George Washington who had significant impacts on history. That does not mean we know George. We cannot have a personal relationship with him

George wasn’t God, Jesus Christ is God. What is impossible with man is possible with God.

The Word of God, the Gospel, is more than a historical reference. It is more than an invitation. It is the door to allow Christ to come into our lives, if we take His Word to heart.

There always have been those who scoff at getting to know God in such a personal way. In the infancy of our new birth we might hear this message and only have a hope that it is true. There is the Doubting Thomas syndrome that needs to be overcome. Give the gospel time to erase all doubt and He will show Himself.

If we read our bibles like a textbook, then that is what it becomes. If we read it like a love letter and take it to heart, then love grows within us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 English Standard Version

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Glorifying God in our bodies is allowing Christ to be seen in us in truth and spirit.