SEEK GOD:.....Man comes and goes, Miracles are temporal, Everything is Vanity!

               

VANITY OF LIFE...

Introduction

This afternoon, I was meditating on the philosophy of life contained in the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon writing on the vanity of life.  You will discover that man comes and goes, one generation after another.  

People get desperate for change in their conditions, they seek healing, deliverance and financial breakthrough from God, but after the healing, the man will eventually die. After the new job and great pay package, you will retire one day.  The only thing stable is the word of God, Everything is Vanity, even life itself will pass away one day.  

People can definitely live meaningful lives, make money, be happy, help the poor and generally succeed in life, but the real question is: Are you conscious of the truth that your life is for a short time, and that all the things you see are also temporal?  Do you know that only God and His word is forever?  If you know, what are you doing to know your God and to please Him?  Is your lifestyle acceptable to Him and if you drop dead now, will you make heaven?

What does vanity mean to you?

The whole essence of Vanity preached by Solomon is to alert people to seek God and remain in Him.  Only the divine will stand forever and whoever is not found in Him is lost permanently.

Everything on earth is vanity and will soon pass away, including man.  We will all die one day. When we die outside the will of God, spiritually we have lost our soul because that soul cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  The bible says, what does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul?  Even if you discover say a cure for cancer or something similar, what is the use of it if we lose our soul to the things of this world?  

When you die, everything you have acquired in life is separated from you, and your soul will face judgment.  King Solomon reflected on all these, being a man of wisdom and wealth and concluded that everything in life and life itself is VANITY. Have you seen life and all the riches and glory of this life, fame, titles, and awards of excellence as nothing but Vanity?

That is why people of all ages seek God and to do His will.  A life without God and eternal life is meaningless, no matter how successful the person is on earth. The death of Christ at the cross and the salvation He purchased for man is what makes like worthy of living and without eternal life, life is worthless.

Wisdom and knowledge, Vanity

He says that your works, labour and struggles are Vanity and all together unprofitable, as it is repetitious and never satisfies.  Anything a man achieves without the Lord is Vanity, though the person may not know it at that time.

Wisdom, knowledge, madness, and folly - all of them vanity, for in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.   "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."  What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?  One generation passes away, and another generation comes, But the earth abides forever. 

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down And hastens to the place where it arose.  The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually And comes again on its circuit.   All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come,

All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.  King Solomon is saying that God has made provision natural provisions to serve us and support our existence for the short while, while we focus on the creator and not the created.

Ultimate wisdom and arrangement is from God

King Solomon says that God has ordained things the way they are and that men struggle, beat around the bush, without knowing that what is happening is what is ordained to happen.  Man does not realize that '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. 

He asks the man a salient question 'Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.  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. 

What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.  I communed with my heart, saying, "Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge."  

I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. 

And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.  

Vanity illustrated
Vanity is emptiness and Solomon wrote more about vanity than any other author in the Bible and more so in Ecclesiastes where vanity is mentioned 32 of the 35 times in the Bible. One such example of the futility or vanity of riches is when “a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him the power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil” (Eccl 6:2) because “sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil” (Eccl 2:21).

In a Person:


In the life of a person, vanity is seen as having an excessive estimation (overestimation) of one’s self, abilities, looks, or other attributes that makes them have an excessive belief in their own abilities or attractiveness to others.  The Bible has a lot to say about vanity.  In Ecclesiastes 6:3-4 in regards to a man’s life, “the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things.

A man is not pleased with what he has and continues to dream and desire to acquire more things to his consumption. So, Solomon wrote, “I hated life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl 2:17). He continued, saying, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness, its name is covered”. 

Since “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity” (Eccl 2:15) and “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl 1:14). The psalmist saw the same brevity of life and wrote “Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man” (Psalm 89:47)!

The Reality of Vanity

We live in a world dominated by vanity. We all want to look good and feel good, and we will stop for nothing to achieve that desired “image” and feeling. Modern-day vanity causes us to go to extremes to fit in. We get into debt to buy that trendy car, we spend our precious time in front of mirrors, we spend more time patting ourselves on the back instead of loving, and we even put ourselves on operating tables all in an attempt to be something we aren’t.

Vanity is one of the main sins that plagues humanity today. Much of our  with evil desires driving men and women from their natural self into imaginary life, seeking to belong and please others.


Why Vanity Is Dangerous

Modern-day vanity IS dark and dangerous. Don’t believe me? Look at all of the people that are suffering (or dead) due to melanoma caused by tanning beds or excessive sun tanning. They only wanted to look good to others. Or what about all of the children who have committed suicide because of bullies? The bullies thought they were being cool and impressing others – they were being vain.

The price of vanity is high. Here are a few reasons why vanity is dangerous to ourselves and to our society.

1. Pride 
Admitting you’re wrong is hard. I get that. We are all opinionated and want to be right. Why? Because being wrong would destroy the little image we have worked so hard to build. The downside is that if no one in the world is wrong, then, who is right? We may believe we are right, but in reality we are merely pushing the truth away. 

2. Untrustworthy
Maybe you are well accomplished or very handsome and good looking. Maybe you are rich. Maybe you are even the President of the United States. But if you are so full of vanity and conceit that it shows, you are telling the world that you cannot be trusted. Vanity causes obsession. If you are obsessed with yourself, then that is the only person you truly care about. Conceited people do not have what it takes to be a friend. They do not have what it takes to be a leader. You cannot count on them. They are untrustworthy.

3.  Self Loathing
Self-obsession leads to narrow mindedness which may temporarily blind you to your flaws, but eventually, you are going to fail big time. You will fail big enough that not even your skewed view of yourself will shadow it from your eyes. And since you are so obsessed with perfection, you are going to beat yourself up when you fail. Vanity is an emotional roller coaster of praising yourself and beating yourself up. That kind of ride is never fun. The more you beat yourself up, the more you hate yourself. Vanity is like a drug. For a while, you feel pretty good, but if you indulge too much, you wind up in a really bad downward spiral.

Physical Ways out

Confidence and self-love are great things. They are empowering, inspiring, and courageous. However, it is a fine line between confidence and vanity. Once you cross over to vanity, you lose your self-awareness. You lose accountability for who you are. The truth is that vanity stems from insecurity, so, in reality, vain people are very insecure. They constantly seek praise and affirmation from others.  So how do you cross back from vanity to self-confidence? Here are a few tips.

1. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
In today’s world, it is easier than ever to browse through social media and see pictures of beautiful models, successful business owners, and rich people. It is tough not to start comparing yourself to them and coming up with ways to model their behavior and look, but you must resist. You are who you are, and you are perfect that way.

2. Build Your Humility
Yes, you may be smart. Yes, you may be beautiful. You are probably really good at a few things. But never lose sight of the fact that you are very small in this big old world. You are not good at everything, and there are people out there that know much more than you do. You are not as powerful as you’d like to think. Be humble. Let go of all that pride.

3. Be Grateful

Do you have a roof over your head? Food on your plate? A paycheck? Do you know that there are millions of people out there that wish they had those things? While you are busy worrying about how perfect your hair is, someone with cancer is losing theirs. Thousands of people in our country sleep on the streets and beg for food every day. There are people that die from diseases that we are vaccinated against. So make it a daily habit to be grateful for the things that you have. You do not need more. You need to be happy with what you have now.

Spiritual Way out - How should we walk?

The preacher is trying to tell people to focus on eternity as what they see today will soon fade away and new ones appear.  This is the nature of life.  If you concentrate on worldly things, the person is chasing shadow, instead of focusing on God and the things that please God.  

Have you discovered who you are created to be?  Are you living it?  Are you living a meaningful life, which means you are doing what God ordained you to do?  Which means you are fulfilling your destiny and in the will of God.  God created you for a purpose which you have to discover and walk in, instead of being misled by the things you see, which are temporal and vanity.  

When you discover what is written in the book concerning you and walk by it, your salvation and eternal life is sure.  You will live like a stranger, an Ambassador whose home is heaven.

Our earthly journey is Time-bound

For the bible says in Genesis 8:22 - "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease. This means that at the fullness of time, the earth in its present form will pass away.

But while the earth remaineth, the Sun, Moon, Stars, Wind and Rivers and all other parts of material creations will remain. God laid the foundation of the earth that it should not be moved forever and that's why water flows from the Sea into the Rivers and return again to the Sea, yet the Sea is not full. Your eyes are not satisfied with seeing, neither your ear filled with hearing. 

The Sun causes vapor to arise and fill the clouds, then they are sent down to the earth as rain to water the plants, habitation and run to the river and again into the Sea.  in the eyes of King Solomon, life is based on profit and loss, the profit being your gain and the pleasure you eat and enjoy arising from your labor.  Apart from this transient profit that you enjoy, what you eat, drink, merry and fulfill the lust of your heart, everything else is VANITY.  According to him, Life without purpose is Vanity. Life without Christ is Vanity.

Vanity in Summary 

1. All our toil is vanity - Vanity Upon Vanity; All the works of Man under the sun 

2. A man was created by God to live for a short time, and if a man cannot find God within the time of his life, his soul is lost forever - Vanity.

3. No condition is permanent, a man can be rich today and by tomorrow, hi is poor. Many have riches and wealth, yet they are not happy or fulfilled - there is an emptiness that only Jesus Christ can fill. There cannot be contentment without God.  There is an emptiness that rich people feel every day.

4. A man drives Cars in leisure today, tomorrow an Ambulance drives him.

5. A man came to this world with nothing, and must surely go with Nothing.  The moment he dies, he is separated from his earthly possessions.

6. What happens to the Fool, also happens to the Wise. As it is to the Poor, so it is to the Rich. All is Vanity!

7. What a TEMPORARY WORLD of Vanity.  Who knows whether is the Fool or the Wise that shall rule over all you have labored and where you have shown yourself wise and mighty under the sun?

8. It is vain to rise up early and sleep late at night without knowing JESUS CHRIST!

Conclusion

If you are living a life outside of faith in Christ then your life is all vanity too. It will pass away and be of no use beyond the grave. You will be judged for everything you have done in this life and without the blood of Christ, you will have to pay for your own sins after death. For others who have repented and trusted in Christ, nothing is done in vain as Paul wrote: “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

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