Vanity of Vanities!!

By Evangeline Unity Essaba Folson

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which taketh under the sun?

Another translation renders Ecclesiastes 1:2 

Useless, useless, said the Preacher, all is useless.

Why does the Preacher or Philosopher King Solomon refer to all the strive and labor of man as being useless?

King Solomon had it all:

• He was the wiseth man on earth in his time
• He was the richest man on earth in his time
• He had everything at his beck and call

1. Women, had you wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3)
2. Slaves
3. Gold, silver and all the precious metals and stores of the time
4. Cattle etc.

He said everything was useless because!

• One day we will leave everything we have strived and worked for 

Ecclesiastes 3:20

Ecclesiastes 12:5

Hebrews 9:27

• What then should we do? Fear God and keep His commands 

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul

Matthew 22:37 – 38

Build treasure in heaven

Matthew 6:19 – 20

One day we will leave everything we have worked strived and worked for

We did not bring anything into this world and we cannot take anything when we are leaving.

It is useless therefore to spend all our time and energy working to acquire wealth and the comforts of life at the expense of saving our souls and that of others to make it fit heaven as the Methodist hymn 948 says

A change to keep I have 

A God to glorify

A never dying soul to save

And fit it for the sky.

Ecclesiastes 3:20

All go to one place. All from dust, and to dust all will return.

We will all end up one day six feet down below, back to the dust we came from. That is our bodies, our souls however will live. A soul is a spiritual being and has no need for wealth and the comforts of life.

As we strive to make ourselves comfortable in life (that is our bodies) we should also remember to spend time serving God and obey other things that will give our souls eternal rest in heaven

Ecclesiastes 12:5

… because man goeth to his long home… 

The last part is the most important, one day man will return to his home, back to the dust where he came from.

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

Death is not the end of man.

We will face judgment one day, before we are cleared to enter heaven and spend eternity there.

Therefore, we need to be very careful what we do, men might not see but god sees everything. It is useless to spend all your life pretending to be a Christian only to end up in hell.

What then should we do?

•  Fear God and keep His commands. This is confirmed in Ecclesiastes 12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter! Fear God, and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with thy soul and with all thy mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

• Build treasure in heaven

Matthew 6:19-20

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

Earthly treasures have a limited lie span. But heavenly tresures are eternal not only for the body but for the soul as well.

Heavenly treasures can be found in:

• The souls we witness to and save. 
• Genuine and faithful service to God.
• Letting our lives shine for God though over good works.

Meditate on the words of this song

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

All this wondrous compassion and purity.

Oh thou Spirit divine 

All my natures refine

Till the beauty of Jesus 

Be seen in me.

That is how to build heavenly treasure.

 

References

1. King James Bible
2. Oxford English Minidictionary
3. Google.com