Solomon had unlimited access to pleasure, wisdom, and work, and he tested all three to see if any of them could satisfy the human soul. His conclusion was honest and sobering: none of them could. Pleasure disappoints, wisdom cannot defeat death, and everything you build must eventually be handed to someone else. But Solomon does not leave us in despair. The turning point comes when he stops trying to master life and starts receiving it from God’s hand. Joy is not something we manufacture from the right circumstances. It is something God gives. The real answer is not a better combination of good things. It is knowing the God who gives all of them.
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:1-26
