“Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2
Verses like this bother me, as a matter of fact I get confused. For one thing preachers say a lot of things that confuse me, Solomon says a lot of things that confuse me and as a matter of fact, even God says some things that confuse me.
Vanity simple means a VAPOR or a BREATH. Pictured by a warm breath in the cold air which vanishes and disappears, empty, gone. So the preacher is saying everything is empty.
He is saying wealth, fame, fun, honor, pleasure, all those things that I enjoy so much are empty.
I guess my question is, what do we live for? We are just chasing a vapor that vanishes. Wow, that sounds like fun, that seems like purpose in life doesn’t it.It sure seems like in our culture we are all running around trying to grasp the air and coming up empty.
Sometimes it is best to read the end of a book to see a clearer picture as to what the writer is talking about. Maybe we can make sense out of this vanity.
The conclusion of the whole matter is: “Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13
This then is the whole purpose of man is to fear God and to obey Him. By doing so you will be able to grasp something other than that which vanishes. For you see God is eternal, no vanishing in Him. You want to grab something that is not in vain, then grab a hold of God. When you grab a hold of Him, you have something real and lasting.
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