ECCLESIASTES 2:1-11 – “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. 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 wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”
THEME OF THE DAY: A VAIN, EMPTY, AND WASTED PURSUIT. The wisest man ever to live would also wear the label of one of the most foolish men ever to live – King Solomon. As for wisdom, he wrote the majority of the Old Testament book of wisdom, Proverbs, and should we put them into practice in our daily lives, wise Christians we would. As for foolishness, Solomon writes another Old Testament book in the wisdom literature called Ecclesiastes.
In Ecclesiastes is wisdom, but it is wisdom that comes from foolishness. Every Chrisitan should read Ecclesiastes at least twice a year. I recommend in January right after Christmas and the craziness of a material world gone mad. Then read it at the end of summer and see the sadness of people when the season of “fun in the sun” is over. Ecclesiastes gives us a great dose of reality to remind us about everything in life. As Solomon would repeat over and over, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity” and we need to be reminded of this divine truth.
Today’s scripture is a key portion in Ecclesiastes. If you cannot read the entire book, read chapter two often. In this chapter, Solomon is very transparent and warns of the vain, empty, and wasted pursuit of attempting to satisfy the heart’s yearning for satisfaction, contentment, and purpose in the things of this world. Go back and read today’s scripture and note all that he obtained to bring contentment into his life – material things, entertainment, fleshly lust, and anything else his heart desired. And what did he conclude? Vanity. All is vanity.
The early church father, Augustine, wrote . . .
“But my sin was this, I looked for pleasure, beauty, and truth, not in Him, but myself and His other creatures, and the search led me instead to pain, confusion, and error.”
May Solomon and Augustine be examples of warning for us as we seek to find the only source of true contentment in this life and eternity – the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, forgive me when I seek in the world what is only found in You and Your Son.
REFLECTION: Seek to satisfy the yearnings in our hearts outside of Christ and we only find emptiness and pain.