I was studying my brains out, paying the school lots of money, and working on the side to help pay for school so that, when I graduated, I could then get a job and work hard for the rest of my life.

The realities of life were setting in.  Childhood was fading into the distance behind me.  I was realizing that what I could see of life wasn’t going to satisfy me.

These things are nothing new.  I was just discovering what the writer of Ecclesiastes had recorded thousands of years earlier.  It’s what he called life’s “vanity.”

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 1:2

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 1:3

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; 1:6a

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: 1:8a

In other words, life keeps churning in this cycle of work, and when it’s all over, there’s nothing left of the work.

Yes, there are enjoyable parts of life (3:12-15; 5:18-20; 9:7-10), but they still don’t give satisfaction.

Whether you are a college student or in the work force, the blissful ignorance of childhood has or will wear off and the realities of life as an adult will crash into your life.

But there is a key that unlocks the door to satisfaction … a relationship with God.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,  12:1a

Let us hear the conlusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 12:13

Paul put it this way:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being;  Acts 17:28

We were made to be in relationship with God.

True satisfaction is found in Him.

In Christ, we can be brought back into that relationship that we were created for.

Yes, keep working.  Keep studying.  But while you do that, keep seeking after God.