Have you been to the gym lately? Every time I work out, I am astounded by the array of exercise equipment—stationary bikes, recumbent bikes, treadmills, stair climbers—all designed to enhance fitness. You get on them, and you go... nowhere.

In fact, going nowhere is part of their design. The point is not to get somewhere—the point is to expend as much energy as possible for as long as possible while you are going nowhere. Every time you step off the treadmill or the bike, you are in the same place that you began.

It seems we are a culture dedicated to getting nowhere fast. We want to know how to do things: to get fit, lose weight, achieve financial success, find love—and naturally we want to do them in the quickest possible way. “How” questions are the most frequently asked questions in this life under the sun. But the real question in life isn’t “how?”, but rather “why?”. Why be successful? Why strive to gain power? Why spend your life searching for prestige or love?

King Solomon dared to ask the bigger questions. Is life really worth living? And if it is, why? He argued that a life moving in circles but going nowhere was pointless, and I agree. Life only makes sense when we include God in our thinking. Without Him it’s just a lot of motion, going nowhere with no purpose.

MEMORY VERSE

What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:3).