This week, I, along with many other pastors and Bible teachers, had the privilege to attend a Charles Simeon Trust Workshop, hosted by Imprint, on the book of Ecclesiastes. It was good to dig into this portion of Scripture, both uncovering its meaning and discovering how to apply it. In recent years, I have read several good books addressing the interpretation and application of this book, but to personally study and interpret it proved even more fruitful. One particular truth that has grabbed my heart and mind is that every breath I take matters—and with every breath I take, God is watching me. Let me explain.

Three of the key terms in Ecclesiastes are “vanity,” “under the sun,” and “fear of God.” To live “under the sun” means to live in accordance with what is observable. The “fear of God,” of course, means to fear God! As we live under the sun, we are to take God seriously. Even though we cannot visibly observe him, he is nevertheless ever-present and therefore very near. We must take this reality into account.

But what is meant by the frequent terms “vain” and “vanity” (34 times)? “Breath,” “vapour,” or “mist” are good definitions and they imply that which is fleeting. “How time flies,” we often say. My mother commented that seeing my brother and I fishing at our recent family reunion took her back nearly sixty years, watching us fish as small boys on Eagle Lake in Michigan, where our family often holidayed. She said that it seemed like “just yesterday.” Life is like a breath, here and then fleetingly gone. And we must make the most of each one. This is a major theme of Ecclesiastes, a theme I am growing to appreciate more and more.

In concluding his discourse about the fleeting nature of life, the author of Ecclesiastes helps his readers to make the most of every breath they take (11:7–12:8). He helps his readers (us!) to see that, though life is fleeting (and often frustrating), it is not to be futile. How? By remembering God and remembering that we will give account to him for every breath we take. To paraphrase the 1980s pop song, “Every breath you take, God is watching you.” This accountability for each breath gifted by God begins when we draw our first breath. This is why he writes, “Remember … your Creator in the days of your youth” (12:1a). Since life is fleeting, get started early making the most of every breath you take. Don’t waste them, for you will grow old and eventually you will draw your last breath (12:b-8). I can relate to his observations of this aging process: difficulty bending, teeth problems, waking with the birds, hair going grey, increasing caution about falling, decreased energy, loss of hearing (12:3–5). Every breath I have taken for over 64 years has moved me closer to my last breath. And with that last breath I will stand before the Lord and will give a final account (11:9; 12:13–14). This sobering reality is meant to motivate me to make the most of every breath I have left.

I recently learned that a former running partner, an accomplished runner having run in the US Olympic trials, had a heart issue several years ago and he no longer runs. He told a friend of mine that he firmly believes we are each allotted a limited number of heartbeats and so he wants to steward his wisely. Though I might arrive at a different nuanced theological position, nevertheless I appreciate his desire to make the most of the heartbeats he has left. He appreciates the vanity of life—its fleeting nature—and therefore he wants to make the most of the time he has left. Again, this is a major theme of Ecclesiastes and it should be the outlook of every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus knew that he had a certain life-span in which to accomplish the task given him by his Father—the task of redeeming the people the Father had given to him (John 6:37; 10:27–29; 17:1–6). With every breath he took, Jesus moved closer to the cross on which he would die to save his people. The Gospels reveal that, day by day, Jesus lived to please his Father, to whom, as the God-Man, he was ultimately accountable. His life was fleeting, a mere 33 years, and yet it was anything but futile. Because he was faithful to live for the Father with every breath he took, therefore, in his death and resurrection, he was innumerably fruitful having redeemed multitudes from every tribe, nation, and tongue (Revelation 5:9–12).

Brothers and sisters, because we belong to this company of the redeemed, let us live, with every breath we take, for he who alone is worthy. For God is watching us. What a joy, what a grace, what a privilege, what a truly awesome responsibility.

Doug