Ecclesiastes
2 is divided up into three sections.
First we have the vanity of self-indulgence. Then we have the vanity of living
wisely. Third we have the vanity of
toil. Talk about a chapter of the Bible
that applies to real life! Do you know
anyone who doesn’t fit into one of these three categories? Is there a person out there who isn’t living
to party, living to be prudent, or living to work?
Self-Indulgence
In the
first section, we hear about sheer opulence.
Solomon claims that whatever his eye desired to behold he did not
refrain from bringing it into his presence.
He had gardens. He had
slaves. He had wives. He had food.
He had drink. Whatever he desired
he had.
Sounds
like a good life, right?
Look at
where Solomon lands at the end of the section.
It is vanity. It is
meaningless. There is simply nothing
there. I have to say that I agree with
him. I’ve mentioned it before in my
blog, and I’ll probably mention it again.
But I remember as a child writing up Christmas lists to Santa. I thought if my wishes were fulfilled then I
would be happy forever. I was
wrong. My wishes weren’t fulfilled
forever. My wishes granted me short-term
pleasure. It just didn’t last.
This is
not a slam on children writing wish lists to Santa. It is a memory I treasured as a child and I
advocate it as part of a family dynamic because of the lessons it can
teach. What I am slamming is my own
immaturity in believing that Santa’s gifts could make me happy forever! But that’s just part of the growing up
process, isn’t it?
The point
that I love about this section is that it really demonstrates the futile nature
of stuff. After all, if the guy who has
everything is not satisfied, what chance do I have in satisfying my heart with
the stuff I can possess? No, the answer
to satisfaction in life is not found in my possessions.
However, I
don’t want to go too far off the deep end in the other direction, either. I don’t believe the answer is in complete
poverty, either. There is nothing wrong
with having a few things. There is
nothing wrong with having clothes, some food, shelter, etc. The problem comes when we believe the stuff
is the answer. To pull in the 10
commandments, the problem with vanity comes when the stuff becomes the idol
that we elevate above God. That’s where
meaningless pursuit of stuff is found.
Vanity of Prudence
So now we
turn to the vanity of prudent living. It
begins by Solomon correctly discovering that there is more significance in
wisdom than in folly. There is more significance
to living in the light than living in darkness.
Each of these points is correct.
However,
Solomon also correctly concludes that no amount of wisdom can completely
satisfy. We will always make
mistakes. No matter how much we prepare
we will always be blind-sided by the hidden agendas and mistakes of
others. Let’s face it. No matter how prudent we live, we are all
going to die and be subject to things like natural disasters. Solomon is clearly saying that wisdom is
good, but it is not the answer to our need for fulfillment. Nobody is able to plan out life so fully and
completely that they can avoid the negative elements.
Vanity of Toil
Finally we
turn to the vanity of toil. Solomon
begins with an incredibly human perspective.
How many of us have ever been frustrated by the fact that we work and
work and work and inevitably someone else benefits from our work when they did
absolutely nothing to deserve it? People
in business wrestle with this idea all the time. In fact, it is this idea that is the root for
things like copyright and patent law.
Nobody likes the thought of other people reaping a great benefit when we
are the ones who did all the work.
However,
Solomon then turns to where truth in toil can be found. We should toil. Solomon knows that we should toil. As bad as it is for other people to benefit
from our toil when they don’t deserve it, it is even worse for a person to not
toil at all. We all need work to
do. We all need to accomplish something
in our life. So how do we accomplish
toil without being frustrated about those who will reap from our toil?
It’s
really simple. We toil for God. We adopt a perspective in life that all we do
we do for Him. When we toil in order to
please God, then it is up to God to distribute the effort of our toil. If God is in control, then God is in
control. It’s as simple as that.
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