Our Only and All-Sufficient Portion!

"Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind; and there was nothing to be gained under the sun!" Ecclesiastes 2:11

In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read of Solomon’s experience of the unsatisfying nature of all worldly honors and pleasures. Everything that could   please the eye, charm the ear, gratify the taste, or amuse and enrich the mind, everything that the flesh could indulge in, was by him sought and enjoyed. But in the end, he declares "all is vanity and a chasing after wind."



The disappointment results from, I believe, two things... the very natures of the flesh and the soul. The lusts of the flesh are by nature (that is to say, sin) insatiable because anything man might indulge in is, in this world (again, by nature) temporary and fleeting. We become bored with the pleasures of this world, or at the least, unsatisfied, if not intensified with each new experience to the point of exaggeration. It is the root of addiction.

On the other hand, the soul’s capacity, being infinite, cannot be merely “entertained” with such finite enjoyment. Give the soul whatever you will, indulge in every earthly desire, it will still be unsatisfied without God.

“Nothing but a faithful discharge of duty and the approving smile of God can bring satisfaction and joy to the soul.”
~Jared Waterbury, 1840.

All below is vanity. All earth-born pleasures are transitory.

Your life is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14
Death withers every flower as soon as it blooms. Man too is hurried to the tomb, and then forgotten.

If  all below is vanity, then Let us fix our eye on the "unfading crown of glory!" which our Chief Shepherd will give us when He appears 1 Peter 5:4. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:2.

Was this not the greatest labor of love that ever happened? I believe the JOY set before Him was the redemption of  the human race... for love.

If He endured the cross... for the JOY set before Him, then we surely can endure for a short time, any form of tribulation and persecution for the portion of that joy set before us!

Let us take God for our only and all-sufficient portion!
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lam. 3:24.

He Who received God’s wrath for MY sins has given to me a portion of His glory for He has made me a fellow-heir... with Himself!

If we are God’s children, then we are His heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance, sharing in His glory, if we share in His suffering. Romans 8:17 AMP

Excerpts from "Meditations and Prayers” ~Jared Waterbury, 1840

Oh Lord, the world is indeed unsatisfying, even though an infatuation still exists within my heart, which sometimes leads me to covet its pleasures. But I find it to be "vanity and vexation of spirit." Its most beautiful scenery cannot charm my soul, like You. Come to us, with all Your fullness, and then our hearts will quickly turn from worldly lusts. You know that we are never satisfied, never happy when we are not living for You, and having sweet communion with You. Though surrounded with earthly excitement, You know how weary my soul is, if You are not with me, or if I have failed to place You first in my affections. We desire to soar to You our God our Heavenly Father, to know Jesus, our rest and our peace, and to know the power of His Resurrection, to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God worthy of Your calling, in His name I pray, Amen.

Shared July 16, 2023, Breaking of Bread service, Wellspring Bible Fellowship