Everyone will think this one day

The dust will settle one day. One will look back at his work, his life, his accomplishments, his failures, and think, “all is vanity.”

Be it the most “successful,” the most sorrowful, the most gifted, the wisest, at some point, we will all say something similar to these three words – all is vanity.

With this three words begin the reflections of one of the wisest and wealthiest men that ever lived. If we all are going to look around at our lives one day and utter the hopeless phrase of “all is vanity,” the words of Ecclesiastes are a gift for us to read.

To put it in perspective for us, imagine Bill Gates or Steve Jobs writing an autobiography, opening with those same words. Immediate best seller. The public would all want to hear what they had to say. After all, these men had found extreme success, so how could they possibly describe their life as “vanity?”

Such was Solomon and his words are to be treasured. Ecclesiastes is a gift.

Solomon was the powerful King of Israel, gaining admiration from the world. He began his journey as a humble young man. In fact, when we was to be anointed king, he “hid among the baggage,” (1 Samuel 10:22). He was too fearful and intimidated to take the position.

We see more of his humble beginning after he assumes the role of king.

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings‬ ‭3:5-9‬

God opens his hand to Solomon, willing to give him anything. Recognizing his lack of experience to effectively govern, Solomon asks for wisdom to lead the people. No doubt, the man was humble as he began leading the people.

This gift of wisdom and leadership led him to amassing extreme wealth. Read his words in the excerpt below, noting his wealth.

“I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:4-9‬

No doubt, Solomon had seen the peak and the valley. And, Ecclesiastes is the gift of a man that has seen it all, writing about his journey. He ends up where we will all find ourselves one day, asking himself, “does it all matter?”

At the end of his autobiography, Solomon points the reader to God, clearly saying that every man’s role in life is attached to Him. Serving God is our purpose in life, exceeding all vanity thinking. Solomon’s call that life is about more than wealth or the temporal pleasures of this world ground me, point me to eternal thinking.

Eternal thinking is where we find our anchor, our hope. Eternal thinking is where we can vehemently disagree with the words that “all is vanity.” Eternal thinking is where we find the realization that every moment, every second, matter.

We are given a brief time to point those that we love most to this same thinking, or, better said, to Jesus, the One who would leave the 99 to rescue the one. The One who would lay His life down because of His love for humanity. The One that provides ultimate hope at that moment in our lives when we say, “all is vanity.”

Jesus provides the hope, the perspective to move past temporal thinking. He is indeed our anchor. Without Him, all is indeed vanity.

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