Meaning(Less) Devotional

By Matthew S. Thrower

This book is for anyone who is on an adventure to find meaning for his or her life. The quest for meaning, however, can often lead to a dead end. Whether you are trying to find your meaning in a relationship, career, wealth, or poweryou may end up with the same conclusion Solomon foundits meaningless and still leaves a void within your soul. Fortunately, we can find meaningand the solution is found over the sun.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973612742

Matthew S. Thrower

Matthew is the Lead Pastor of Refuge Point Church in West Point, Georgia, a thriving multi-denominational church in a small town. He loves speaking, writing, playing music, renovating things and loving people. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Lagrange College in Lagrange, Georgia and a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty University. He currently lives in West Point, Georgia with his bride Merinda, and their three kids, Jude, Nora and Ezra.

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Copyright © 2018 Matthew S. Thrower.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1273-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1274-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017919756

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/18/2018

Contents

Acknowledgements

A Meaningless Introduction

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Hold Up, Broseph!

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Hold up there, Kemosabe

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

Day 31

Day 32

Day 33

Day 33

Day 34

Day 35

Day 36

Day 37

Day 38

Day 39

Praise Break!

Day 40

Day 41

Day 42

Day 43

A Fight Club Ending?

Day 44

Day 45

A Meaningful Benediction

Notes

To anyone who is on an adventure to find meaning for his or her life.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my wife and children for their endless love for me, God and life. You guys have stood by me and my God-given vision to see a glimpse of God’s kingdom touchdown in our world. I never feel like I’m doing this alone because I have you guys by my side. I’m also forever grateful to my Refuge Point Church family for listening to my Meaningless sermons through the book of Ecclesiastes. You guys are the greatest group of people on earth! Thanks for helping me keep our church meaningful in our community. Finally, I have to say a huge thank you to Carrie Busch. Because of your help, this dream became a reality.

A Meaningless Introduction

Most in our society desire success and wealth. This desire drives our thinking— we want more success, more money, and we expect that nothing bad should ever happen to us. However, the Bible runs counter to this thinking. God’s definition of success is made plain in five consecutive books known as the Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) in the middle of the Old Testament. The Wisdom Literature contains narratives of individual lives.

Proverbs is a field guide for how we can define and achieve success in our individual lives. Next, Psalms mostly contains the writings of the great king, David, who experiences some major emotional ups and downs. In a moment of desperation, he cries out, How long, Oh Lord, will You forget me forever? and then only a few lines later, he tells us, I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13) David is so relatable for me, so I understand his writings very well. Then, you have Song of Solomon, a book about the celebration of sex.

Job and Ecclesiastes are two books that seem to form one lesson, despite being on two opposite sides of the spectrum. Job is a wealthy and godly man, and the devil strikes him with boils. So, Job sits in ashes, completely poor with dogs licking his wounds, and arrives at the end of all of this by saying, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21)

Most of us can’t say we have suffered like Job. Yet, we still complain: If I had more money, if I had more power, if I had more friends, if I had better religion, then life would be better. What we desire is an unrealistic existence.

The focus of this 45-Day Devotional is Ecclesiastes, which also deals with our desire for meaning and our perspective of success. In this book, we learn:

1) Don’t take yourself too seriously

2) Don’t waste your life on materialism

3) God is the only way to find meaning

With that, King Solomon allows us to lean in on an adventure to discover all that is under heaven. He was the wisest, most powerful, and wealthiest man at that time. During his adventure of finding meaning, he finds that everything under the sun is meaningless… and that true meaning is only found over the sun, in God.

Day

1

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

Talk about an introduction! Meaningless! Meaningless! (That’s how the word, vanity translates – from the word vapor or a puff of air, fleeting or illusive). It seriously sounds like the Preacher (whom most people believe is Solomon) needs a warm hug from a snowman. I actually love the direct tone he sets and how quick he is to point out that everything is meaningless. At the forefront of this book, he points to the fact that if God is not in the center of your activities,