“Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he
toils under the sun?” Eccl. 1:2-3
“Then I looked
on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed, all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under
the sun.” Eccl. 2:11
King Solomon, accepted to be
a very real historical figure in Jewish royalty by everyone except the most
willfully ignorant, was the most
wealthy, most wise man that ever lived… PERIOD! The two scripture quotes
above are his (inspired) words.
The Apostle Paul, was,
formerly, a Jewish religious leader and had everything
pertaining to the Jewish religion (read
Phil 3:4-6). Even though his “pedigree” was impeccable, he wrote what to me
is the epitome of aspiration in a Christian’s life….
“what things
were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and
the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.” Phil. 3:7-11
Jesus came, firstly, to
fulfill the covenant promises from God toward Israel and its calling… to
manifest that fulfillment in the flesh,
as it were; to show them and give them all that He had spoken concerning them
as God’s special people. He did not come with the majesty of King Solomon, nor
did He come with the pompous piety of Saul (Paul).
Jesus did not come in vain pride but in love and servile humility because
He was without sin. He came obedient to His Father’s will to atone for the sins
of man. Jesus was and is their King. But
the Jews, in their vanity of self-righteousness, rejected Him because they
could not see the invisible about Him… namely, that He was their God.
People prefer to worship
and/or exalt a visible “thing” and reject the invisible. Because they lack the
faith required. Faith is what allows us to see the evidence of what is not
seen, Heb. 11:1.
Whether that teaching and
exhortation was directed solely to His disciples or to anyone, I’ll leave for
another study.
In my own life, I find that
having faith while entertaining myself with worldly distractions and objects
does not make me a mustard seed. In fact, I become as impotent as His early
disciples. So long as I am charmed and enticed by the “joys” (really?) of this world, I remain strong
in the flesh and weak in the Spirit. I am not transformed and my mind is not
renewed.
I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom. 12:1-2
A living sacrifice… dead to the things of the world, alive unto God. It is our reasonable service!
All the faithful of Hebrews
chapter 11 “through faith subdued kingdoms, worked
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better
resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of
chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,
were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented — of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these,
having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made
perfect apart from us.” vss. 33-40
They did not esteem the
things of this world as anything they wanted. In fact, all was dung.
Everything in the world is
vanity of vanities. It dies with me; and if I have esteemed possessions,
celebrities, wealth, luxury, entertainment, and my own happiness more than, or
even equal to, God and His gift of salvation… indeed His Son Jesus, then I am a
most pitiful excuse of a Christian.
Solomon… a man who had it
ALL, came to realize that nothing means anything if God is not central and All
in all. It is foolish vanity.
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