Verses 1-8
-
Think about what truly matters while you are young. Make it your priority to seek and obey God early in life. Because, in the end, the only thing that truly matters is whether we were right with God or not.
-
The longer you wait to care about doing what pleases God, the more of your life you will waste with meaningless pursuits, and your suffering will only increase.
-
Verses 9-12
-
Even though Solomon learned that everything is meaningless, wisdom still has value. Study the Word and gain wisdom, but remember that studying is endless. There is always more knowledge to gain so don't get lost in it.
-
Make sure you have a balance of study and obedience to the Word.
-
Verses 13-14
-
What matters most, again, is pleasing God. To do that, first, gain the knowledge and understanding from the Word to know how to please God. Then, fearing God's judgment (which will come for not obeying what you know [Hebrews 10:26]), be obedient to the commands in the Word you learn.
-
As a reminder, everything you do in this life, though it is in one sense meaningless, still matters to God because He will judge you for everything (1 Peter 1:17).
-
Specifically, as a believer, your past as an unbeliever is forgiven and forgotten (Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 9:15, Acts 17:30), but your works and time as a believer will receive judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Peter 4:17-19).
-
-