Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life The Search for Achievement
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Sep 24, 2025 The discussion explores the quest for meaning in a life that may seem finite and therefore meaningless. The speaker analyzes three attempts to find purpose: through fighting injustice, seeking pleasure, and pursuing achievement. A work-based life ultimately disappoints, leading to isolation and lack of recognition. The search often stems from deeper issues like envy and identity crises. Ultimately, true rest and fulfillment can be found in divine grace, freeing individuals to work joyfully rather than out of a need for validation.
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Questioning Meaning If This Life Is All There Is
- Ecclesiastes explores whether life is meaningless if this life is all there is and tests three self-made meanings.
- The writer adopts a practical secularist view and seeks to construct significance under the sun.
Three False Paths To Construct Meaning
- The Ecclesiastes writer tests three ways to construct meaning: causes, pleasure, and work.
- Keller summarizes that each approach ultimately fails to provide lasting meaning under the sun.
Why Work-Based Meaning Fails
- When work becomes the organizing principle of life it promises satisfaction, recognition, and contribution.
- Ecclesiastes shows success fails on its own terms and cannot reliably deliver those payoffs.
