This week the Bible Verses will focus on vanity as it is found in Ecclesiastes. Vanity is a persistent part of our culture today. However Ecclesiastes identifies vanity as an empty commodity while our culture embraces it. The challenge for this week would be for God to open our hearts and our eyes that we might see things in a new light. For God to free us from Vanity and allow us to grow in our relationship with Him.
* This is a brief study and not an exhaustive one. It is encouraged for all readers to read Ecclesiastes in its entirety and allow the Holy Spirit to individually speak to you.
*Please share your thoughts I would love to hear them:)
Vanity:
- Part 1: "The Vanity of Self-Indulgence"
"So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."
These verses really speak and convict me of turning to "stuff" to find importance. As he says, regardless of how much he gained, it was all vanity. This reminds me of a song by Casting Crowns which speaks of a man who gains everything or strives to, and how empty his life becomes. Without God life is meaningless. No amount of stuff can define our worth, only Christ.
- Part 2: "The Vanity of Living Wisely."
"For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind."
These verses describe how living wisely does not create a lasting remembrance. There is hope in these verses as the author states a past tense feeling. It was grievous to him. What of it now has he found truth? Did he discover hope? Later verses indicate that he does. Later verses speak of God's works enduring forever, and the author speaks of fearing the Lord. The Lord gives us purpose, the Lord is our hope.
- Part 3: "The Vanity of Toil"
"So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil and my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This is also vanity and a great evil."
The author speaks of work being vanity because he did not want to give up what he had striven for, to another. This at times can be reflected in attitude or perspective. For whom do we work for? For whom should we seek wisdom from? Who gives our labor meaning and purpose? Is it us? Is it the work of our own hands? No we work for the Lord, for His purpose. Later in the New Testament it speaks of others giving all they had away to the poor. Our work is not who we are. We are His. We are not confined or defined by our occupation, but we are called to be disciples wherever we are. We are called to lay ourselves aside and follow Him.
- Part 4: "The Vanity of Wealth and Honor"
"He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this is also vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them; and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep."
These verses are so transparent. They convict and pierce at the greed found in the heart. The author speaks of the love of money, and striving for it. It cannot be satisfied. I believe in life this is true. The love of money only leads to wanting. There is always a need for more, and then more and so on. Regardless of how much you have when you work there is a peace if you strive for the Lord. Whereas the contrast presented in these verses is the rich who even when full, wants more. He cannot rest for he is driven by greed. May God change our hearts regarding this and may we seek Him only, May he free us from greed.
May the Lord convict us of where we turn to money, stuff, labor, or our own actions to gain purpose. May he draw us to repentance. May our hearts and lives seek Him, Him alone.
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