VALLEY OF VANITY

“...Then I said in my heart, “This also is VANITY” – Ecclesiastes 2:15b

To live without Purpose is to reside in the VALLEY of VANITY: “So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me, and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is VANITY” (Ecc.2:15). Solomon had access to everything the world had to offer. Born into the affluence of his father David, like a prodigal son, he departed the ways of God to indulge his own pointless passions. However, the fact that he wrote Ecclesiastes indicates that he recognized the folly of his wayward ways, returned to the Lord, and wrote an honest autobiography of the shallow life that he discovered apart from God. Solomon sought the best he assumed that life could offer, and then realized that nothing rivals life simply lived in obedience to God.

With his riches, was wisdom, a mark of which is to ponder life’s meaning and the implications of either stewarding or squandering resources. Here, an older Solomon used his vast experience and wisdom to warn younger people. First, he established his credibility as the Preacher (“collector” or “convener”), the son of David, king in Jerusalem (Ecc.1:1). Then, he shared the wisdom he had collected thus far in life. Bored and burned out at the end of his life, Solomon summed up his great life experiment with this one word – VANITY. The Greek word ‘hebel’ refers to a vapor that is wispy, fleeting, elusive, and quickly passing, signifying emptiness or meaningless. The import is that life must be pursued with urgency, because the days between birth and death pass like the mist of a breath on a cold morning (Psa.144:4; Job 7:7, 16).

Solomon’s adamant declaration “All is vanity!”, included: pursuing pleasure; great works; and earthly wisdom (Ecc.2:1-15). Diligence and striving for progress and prosperity are needful and commendable, but they are not the end all: “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage” (Pro.11:28). The Message Bible says: “A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.” Our commitment to God should be at the pinnacle of our thoughts each and every day. To make anything on earth, any temporal thing, the object of life’s pursuit, is futile, pointless, worthless, and meaningless. Life’s true purpose is to LIVE for GOD!

Outside of God, everything on earth is vain! The answer to our search for meaning and purpose is found in Christ. The purposeful life is the surrendered life – one surrendered to the Father’s Will. In all of our inadequacy, mess, and shortcomings, our purpose is to be faithful as God works in and through us. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. The better we get to know Him as our Father, Redeemer, Savior, and Healer, the more His purpose becomes our purpose.