All Is Vanity Without Him

One night I sat down and read the Book of Ecclesiastes in its entirety ~ it is only 12 chapters in length. The book was written by King Solomon (as was the Book of Proverbs). It has been said while Proverbs reveals Solomon’s wisdom, Ecclesiastes reveals his foolishness.

J. Vernon McGee states that "the key word is ‘vanity’ ~ which occurs 37 times ~ while the key phrase is ‘under the sun’ ~ which occurs 29 times." Another recurring phrase is ‘I said in my heart’ ~ which further reiterates that this ‘man under the sun’ (King Solomon) was sharing his conclusions to living his life away from God. All is vanity indeed. When I finished reading the book I was not uplifted or encouraged as I usually feel when reading The Word. On the contrary, the book was a bit of a downer. God’s Word is inspired ~ it has been accurately recorded ~ but King Solomon living away from God and trying to find love and happiness in all the wrong places was not of God. Yet as with everything in life ~ God can turn anything bad to good that He might be glorified. And the Book of Ecclesiastes is no exception.

King Solomon is on a quest for happiness outside of God’s will and he finds that it simply isn’t possible. Not pleasure and materialism, nor the laws of nature, nor wisdom and philosophy, nor living for the ‘now’ will bring satisfaction and happiness. All is vanity. And that in itself is great encouragement for the Christian ~ to stay close to the Lord ~ for living away from Him will be vanity. The Book of Ecclesiastes is a living testament of that very truth. I don’t know how folk live without Christ. King Solomon’s description was depressing with no hope. So hang in there Christians. These are troubling times. But you can’t go wrong with the Lord. You can’t go wrong with staying in His Word. You can’t go wrong with crying out to Him in prayer. For there is no friend like Jesus - no not one!

Without Him I could do nothing.
Without Him I'd surely fail.
Without Him I would be drifting ~
Like a ship without a sail.
Without Him I would be dying.
Without Him I'd be enslaved.
Without Him life would be worthless ~
But with Jesus, thank God, I'm saved.
(Written by Mylon R. Lefevre)

They sure sound like some lyrics King Solomon could have sung.