The Vanity of Life Not Pursuing God

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher;
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

3 What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?

4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.

5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,
And hastens to the place where it arose.

6 The wind goes toward the south,
And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually,
And comes again on its circuit.

7 All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come,
There they return again.

8 All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which it may be said,
"See, this is new"?
It has already been in ancient times before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.

Throughout Ecclesiastes, (Qoheleth, meaning a preacher who addresses an assembly who was David’s son king Solomon), the key word is vanity, “the futile emptiness of trying to be happy apart from God.”  There is much vain emptiness in pursuit of anything in life apart from God, and here we are reminded of these unfulfilling attempts to grasp the passing winds of temporal pursuits.  The wood, hay, and stubble of valueless riches of things dishonoring to God do not ever compare with the indescribable wealth of heavenly precious jewels honoring God and His unfading glory (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).  Such empty chasing after the wind of ethereal possessions which turn to dust is empty emptiness, vanity of vanities.  We are to put heavenly pursuits along the path of the direction of our lives (Matthew 6:33) instead.  Otherwise, all our hard work for the wrong things leaves us holding dust and ashes as our only profit from a lifetime of hard labor.  Our supposed legacies left to our successors is nothing of lasting worth if not for a godly purpose, and things will just go on as if we we never even there for all that is worth, generation to generation, while the world is still there waiting.  Therefore, as we watch the sun set and realize it also rises again and again, do we count the cost (Luke 14:28)?  That is the question the preacher raises to us here.  The winds of life continue to blow and shift about us and encircle the globe in their endless circuit, and the rivers are also given as an example of the constant cycle of rain watering the earth, flowing to the sea, evaporating, and continuing the endless cycle of seemingly going nowhere, yet bringing life along the way when absorbed and used according to His plan for His glory.  We can work hard and labor for gain, only to discover that we are never satisfied with all we see and covet to add to our treasure chests and fill our minds with meaningless knowledge not properly applied as godly understanding to wisdom as skillful application spelled out in their book of Proverbs for us.  Our dissatisfaction with empty pursuits over the great gain of godliness as contentment does not change God’s sovereign providence, but those things do rob us of the crown of righteousness that gives honor to Him who alone deserves it (2 Timothy 4:8, Revelation 4:10-11).  There is nothing new under the sun in these matters.  It is what God has been telling His people from the first word of creation until the consummation at the book’s end as we await His return in grace (Revelation 22:20-21).  What we do now often is insignificant to those coming after us, but if it honors and glorifies the Lord, it will be recorded as a memorial in eternity’s book.  What do we desire to fill the pages of our books?  We do well to listen that we heed the preacher’s message here and remember the vanity of a life not pursuing God’s riches and honor wholeheartedly, but also points us to a fulfilling life by contrast.