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June 19th

The bible reading today is in the first 6 chapters of Ecclesiastes.

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Solomon had a great start to his life, .God entrusted him with the Kingdom of Israel. His dad was known as the man after God’s own heart. Fr from perfect, but close to the Lord.

Solomon would be introduced to God early and by the time he became king at age 20, he knew what it was to hear God’s voice and believe Him wholeheartedly. God honored his desires for wisdom so that he could lead the kingdom in harmony with God’s will.

It was a great start, but 20 years later, after two great accomplishments, Solomon lost his first love. From desiring God to desiring national prominence and personal pleasures of the flesh. Leading him to make alliances with ungodly leaders, marrying 700 women, and building high places for the worship of his wives’ foreign gods.

From light to darkness. I want to believe that somewhere near the end of his life, perhaps in his mid-fifties, 5 years before his death, that Solomon’s heart was broken before God. And in that season of repentance, God used him to pen the message that is before us today in Ecclesiastes.

“All is vanity...all is vain..” My take on the motive of Solomon’s message comes from his own season of life away from God. He was traveling and living to find meaning to life, only to find that it was “his life away from God” that defined vanity.

Vanity translated: All of life is without worth, All of life is nothing, All of life is meaningless...“Nothing really matters!”

Wow...all of that is a lie for the believers. Because...“God matters”!!!! And “everything” and “everyone” that He has created matters! It’s the life “without God at the center” that is vanity of all vanities!

Solomon sought meaning and fulfillment in many ways. One of those ways was by acquired wisdom. The Lord made him wise to God, but it was man’s wisdom that Solomon sought to fill the void in his life. But it didn't work.

Let us listen...“And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1:13

Augustine wrote, “The creator made a God-shaped space in us...which can only be filled with Him.”

Sometimes, like Solomon, we forget that, nd we too look for everything under the sun to fill it...only to be either disappointed or devastated by the exercise. Lord, help us.

The preacher’s search for answers “in man’s wisdom” left him discouraged and depressed. Solomon came to this conclusion: “What is crooked cannot be made straight by the wisdom of man, and what is lacking cannot be counted or “replaced” by the same search.

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1:15‬ ‭

Oh friends, let us remember who is God’s wisdom to us...Jesus and his love...praise the Lord.

Have a great day