by Solomon wrote, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Eccl. 1:2). Here, God applies vanity to everything in life. The Hebrew means “meaningless.”
God’s use of vanity to describe the worth of temporal things of life strikes an unambiguous comparison to God’s eternal blessings. Yet, as meaningless as things are, a few chapters later God tells us how much He wants us to enjoy our temporal life along with temporal things, all before the darkness of death arrives (Eccl. 9:7-10).
- Enjoy hard work in a good career (Eccl. 2:24)
- Eating, drinking and merry (Eccl. 9:7)
- Fine clothes and facial lotions (Eccl. 9:8)
- Marital bliss in a continual honeymoon (Eccl. 9:9)
- So much more, yet all within our youth (Eccl. 11:7-10)
To enjoy these things, Solomon tells us to “walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes” (Eccl. 11:9). This phrase taken by itself contradicts the Bible where we’re often commanded not to follow our sinful flesh. However, this verse ends reminding us that all our pleasures and enjoyment must be tempered with the awareness that God will judge; Solomon ends this verse, “but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”
Paul teaches that God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” It is when we love God’s blessings more than we love Him, that His blessings become “the root of all evil.” It is then that God’s blessings are turned into vain sin and pierces us “through with many sorrows” in judgment (1 Timothy 6:10, 17).
Herein is the issue: enjoying temporal things is not a sin. If our heart is right with God, as we walk in the ways of thine heart we are able to enjoy God’s Blessings no matter how vain, or meaningless they are to this lifetime. We do this by applying biblical principles so not to walk in sin with them. How do we know these principles? Through our faithfulness to God’s Word and His House, by “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
