[Show opens]
Brother Felmar Serreno: Is life only meaningful when one has riches, influence, or fame? And thus, meaningless when one doesn’t have such things? Hi, and welcome to the podcast of God’ Message Magazine, where today’s topic is “Are You Living Your Life To The Fullest?”
A person’s net worth, in financial jargon, is defined as his total assets minus liabilities. Nowadays, that is usually how an individual’s value is assessed: in monetary terms. Interestingly, a similar standard is used by the society-at-large in gauging one’s success in life: how much wealth he has amassed, his level of education, or the fame and influence he enjoys.
Those who have acquired a considerable amount of those things are generally regarded as having lived their lives to the fullest, or whose earthly existence had been truly productive and worthwhile. Conversely, those lacking such mundane accomplishments are largely viewed as miserable and their life a failure.
But should one’s accomplishment in life and worth as a person be measured through the prism of a materialistic world? If a person, let’s say, has been poor all his life with scant or no education at all, does that make his earthly existence downright empty and meaningless? And does his lack of worldly qualities diminish his worth in the eyes of the Creator?
When can we truly say that one has lived his life to the fullest?
A man of notable accomplishments
Brother Felmar: Consider this account of someone who, in worldly standards, achieved such in his lifetime:
“I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards. … I also piled up silver and gold from the royal treasuries of the lands I ruled. … Yes, I was great, greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and my wisdom never failed me.”
[Ecclesiastes 2:4, 8-9 Good News Bible]
Brother Felmar: These words are attributed to King Solomon, during whose reign in Israel reached its golden age—a period of relative peace and prosperity. He testified how he accomplished great things: he piled up riches and gained wisdom and power. In the eyes of many, he was an embodiment of a very successful individual, someone who had lived his life to the fullest. As such, he must have been very content and happy. Well, was he?
This is what King Solomon admitted, thus:
“So I came to regret that I had worked so hard. You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn’t had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn’t right! You work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it?”
[Ecclesiastes 2:20-22 Good News Bible]
Brother Felmar: Despite all his earthly accomplishments, Solomon lamented that all his toils had been useless or in vain. Why did he say that? What did Solomon realize as the ultimate meaning and purpose of life? He declared, thus:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether it be good or evil.”
[Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 21st Century King James Version]
Brother Felmar: After making a mental inventory of all his accomplishments and later realizing that all were in vain, King Solomon concluded that the whole duty of man—that is, the very purpose of his existence...
