Ultimately, we learn in Scripture that that satisfaction, abundance, and life are bound up in Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes bids us to incline our ear to God, particularly as we make our way through the course of life filled with voices inviting us to come, partake, and find life. It is through the lens of wisdom calibrated to the fear of God that we examine the perspectives proffered by our culture and the practices offered to bring life. 

Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book. Like Proverbs, it helps us to discern wisdom from foolishness, what will lead to life and what may seem promising but is nothing but a dead end.

Recognizing our quest for meaning and value in life, the book of Proverbs holds up two women for us positioned along the way of our journey. Each one beckons us with identical words: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here” (Prov. 9:4, 16). Each woman pitches promises of blessing, inviting us to find the life we are looking for.

A closer look, however, reveals one woman to represent truth and the other to represent a lie. The first woman is identified with wisdom. She urges, “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Prov. 9:6). The second woman personifies foolishness. She appeals to our desires and encourages any means to the end of satisfying our desires. “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Prov. 9:17). Though she promises satisfaction and fulfillment, we learn that those who give heed to her invitation find themselves at a banquet in the grave.

Ecclesiastes issues the same warning about a desire-driven life. “And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Eccl. 2:10–11).

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