By vanity, we are referring to worldly involvement and ambition, to the neglect of spiritual things. The Bible refers to some who are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God (2Timothy 3:4). They simply, or mostly, live for this present, transitory world, which is swiftly passing away, and are not taking seriously the eternal state of their souls. They are living for things that, in the grand scheme, do not matter, while neglecting the spiritual things that really, really do (Mark 8:35-37). They may be spending their lives to amass as much wealth and as many things as they can without thinking far enough ahead to realize the ultimate futility of their philosophy.
🔷 Solomon was the wisest mortal man to ever live (1Kings 3:5-13). In his time, he was also certainly the richest man in the world and the most famous (1Kings 10). In his wisdom, he sought for the meaning of life. He ran an experiment for the benefit of the human race regarding human achievement, indulgent recreation, and the acquisition of wealth and material things. He recorded his experiment in a book called, Ecclesiastes. He concluded that everything was vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2). He closed his book succinctly, offering one hope. In all his wisdom and experience, he found no other purpose for life than to be in complete submission to God (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Later, Jesus, Who was wisdom incarnate (1Corinthians 1:30), agreed. He said, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4), indicating the vanity of life apart from God. And, according to Jesus, putting God first will not result in destitution or joyless living (Matthew 6:33; John 10:10; 13:17; 15:11).
From Jesus and Solomon, we learn that wisdom regards life as vain unless it is lived in harmony with the Word of God. That’s because the only way one’s life is not vain is to survive death. That is the basis of Solomon’s conclusion regarding vanity in Ecclesiastes 2 (verses 14-17). The hope he provides for surviving death is keeping the commandments of God, which he styles as the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Jesus, likewise, only associated life with keeping every word of God. Salvation is, and always has been, based on this same wisdom. It is wise to seek one’s eternal good. It is foolish not to (Matthew 7:24-27; 25:1-13). If our lives do not survive death, they fit into the category Jesus described regarding Judas, His betrayer: It would have been better for that man if he had not been born (Matthew 26:24). It is our wisdom to live for God, which is its own present reward (Genesis 15:1) and assurance of life after death. Resurrection is God’s trademark.
🔷 Worldlings, who fail to see or choose to ignore the larger picture, worship and seek five things in this world:
1/ Beauty
2/ Talent
3/ Achievement
4/ Wealth
5/ Power
But none of these can survive death. It would be better to have them in the next world, which is what the Bible offers (Matthew 19:21; 25:21,23; John 14:2-3; Philippians 3:21)— along with the unsurpassable satisfaction of knowing God and living for Him in the present.
🔷 People tend to get what they want in life. Life is somewhat fair in that way (Matthew 5:45; Psalms 145:9; James 1:17). The righteous do because of their well-directed lives (Psalms 37:4; 23:6). The unrighteous do because they chose this life as their portion and God wishes that there be a witness of His personal goodness to them (Acts 14:17), though that goodness be confined to this life (Psalms 92:7).
🔷 Compared to the reality of living for God, vain living pales. It is shallow, hollow, unsubstantial, unrealistic, and unsatisfying (Psalms 106:15). It lacks transcendent meaning and misses the mark of human purpose. Therefore, it is sin against the Creator. God has much more to offer. That’s why the Bible invites a person to Taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalms 34:8). Anyone who is not sold out to Christ is living beneath his privilege of obtaining the fulness of human experience (Ephesians 3:18-19; Colossians 2:10). Look at the Creation account in Genesis 1 and 2. The origin of human life is God. And He remains the context in which we live (Acts 17:27-28). It’s unreasonable to think that anything could be more satisfying than God Himself (Psalms 16:11).
🔷 The admonition of the Apostle Paul two thousand years ago is still relevant today:
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2)
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).
Paul said Christ is our life (Colossians 3:4). There is no more meaningful life to live than for Jesus Christ. He adds significance to everything else (Matthew 6:33).
In the next post, we will talk about the fourth inherent obstacle to salvation.