What really matters in this life? Is everything meaningless?
I volunteer as a helper with the youth group (grades 7-12) at our local assembly on Friday nights. It’s a time of fun, worship, Bible time, socializing, and, of course, snacks. The worship section encompasses a short message, and for this term, the theme is based on Ecclesiastes.
Last Thursday’s Gleanings touched on the final chapter of Ecclesiastes, where Solomon remembered what life was truly about. The first eleven chapters were about the meaninglessness of life.
You are all likely familiar with the opening of the book: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity, Ecclesiastes 1:1-2. ESV
Maybe you know it better as, “The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 NIV
Either way, it paints a grim picture of life. The English language doesn’t quite do the text justice. I’m far from a Hebrew scholar, but I know that Hebrew is a language built on images, so it’s difficult at times for our language to capture the full word picture of the author.
The word translated meaningless, or vanity is the Hebrew הֶבֶל (hebel), pronounced HEH-bel. Hebel can certainly mean ‘meaningless’ or ‘vanity,’ but the word describes a fog or mist.
You can’t quite grasp a fog or mist even when you are surrounded by it. The things of this world are promises written in fog and delivered in mist. They promise many things, but never quite deliver. The harder you chase them, the more difficult they become to grasp.
When you grab a handful of fog, you have an empty hand. Your hand might be a little wet, but you can’t quite catch it.
Solomon had it all by worldly standards: wisdom, wealth, power, fame, sex, and more. So much so that he’s still famous for that today. Yet, in the end, he understood that all of it meant nothing in the long run.
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21 ESV)
All the possessions and accolades of the world won’t give you what you truly need. Only being made righteous with Christ and following Him will satisfy your deepest needs. We were created for that very purpose. Everything else is a shadow, a taste, or a mist.
In the words of the refrain from a timeless hymn:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Trust Him to deliver more than vanity and mist.
Be blessed
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. Here is the way to a meaningful life.