In the book of Ecclesiastes, the Hebrew word “hevel” appears 38 times.

It’s usually translated as “meaningless,” as in life is meaningless. At first glance, this is not an inspiring book to read. It was heavily debated whether to even include it in the Biblical canon. It’s depressing.

This confuses many readers of the Bible, because it seems to contradict the message of hope and redemption found in the New Testament (keep in mind gospel literally means “good news”). Ecclesiastes is anything but good news. It’s a pathetic sounding rant on the frivolousness of life on earth. It’s here, and then it’s gone.

Everything is “hevel,” meaningless.

But the Hebrew word hevel, whose repetition is not a coincidence, literally translates as vapor or mist. It’s much more interesting to read Ecclesiastes with the original Hebrew in mind.

It’s about the morality and meaning of a mortal life. How much more meaningful does every moment become....knowing that someday you will die?

Every baseball game you watch your son play.

Every dance recital your daughter performs.

Every Christmas morning that your kids are still young enough to believe in the magic of Santa.

Every date you have with your spouse.

Every memory you have with grandparents who are not getting any younger.

Ecclesiastes reminds us that life is short. It is like a mist or a vapor.....here for a moment, and then gone. But we can consciously concentrate that mist, leverage it, and extract every last drop of enjoyment from it. Just because we will die someday doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy every moment we are given in the here and now.

I used a super soaker and a household spray bottle to illustrate this point. Both have the same general function: to spray water. However, one is a lot more fun to use.

Life is like that. It’s “hevel.” It’s here and then it’s gone. For some, a lot sooner than others. We never really know when our time is up. As for me, I’d rather concentrate and pressurize every last drop of hevel I’m given. Your life can either be a momentary mist or a concentrated blast of pressurized water streaming towards a consciously chosen target.

Which will it be?

It’s entirely up to you.