Because all men die, the writer of Ecclesiastes laments: What profit hath a man of all his labor...? (Ec 1: 3) Noting that the eyes of man are never satisfied (Ec 1:8; Pr 27:20), he concludes that all is vanity.
How are the eyes "never satisfied"? First Jn 2:15-17 states:
Love not the world...For all that is in the world...the lust of the eyes...is not of the Father, but of the world...And the world passeth away.
Outside of God's redeeming grace, humans will lust after whatever their eyes see that is appealing. Eve lusted after the fruit that appeared attractive to her. Earthly possessions pass away. Mark 8:36 asks:
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1-2 reflects on the meaninglessness of life when viewed without an eternal perspective. He concludes that even the profitable life and the life of pleasure is vanity and of no real enduring profit. Love of the world is not of the Father. Solomon did great works and "whatever mine eyes desired I kept not from them" (Ec 2:10). He had everything anyone could want, but he found life without God was meaningless.
How many individuals today are too busy (or just unwilling)to recognize the meaninglessness of their efforts aimed at satisfying the "lust of the eyes," which can never be satisfied? Solomon calls it vexation of spirit or grasping for the wind. The Lord has an answer to the meaningless life, but the individual has to recognize the meaninglessness of his efforts first.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
An Appointed Time To Die
During my mother's last days the Lord comforted me with Ecclesiastes 3: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die... ( Ec 3:1-2). The word season can be viewed as an appointed occasion. God has an appointed time, an occasion, for each one of us to die.
Four days before she died, my mother lay in her hospital bed with her sitter, my husband and me in the room. She spontaneously started praying: "Father, forgive me of my sins. Thine be the kingdom and the power and the glory." She was clearly not talking to us or for our benefit.
Believing the Gospel, that Jesus is Savior and God and the means to salvation, is not equivalent to being saved. Even the devils believe the facts about salvation (Jm 2:19). The Lord in His mercy let me see my mother's humble request for forgiveness, which He will not deny (See Matthew 7:7-11).
Four days before she died, my mother lay in her hospital bed with her sitter, my husband and me in the room. She spontaneously started praying: "Father, forgive me of my sins. Thine be the kingdom and the power and the glory." She was clearly not talking to us or for our benefit.
Believing the Gospel, that Jesus is Savior and God and the means to salvation, is not equivalent to being saved. Even the devils believe the facts about salvation (Jm 2:19). The Lord in His mercy let me see my mother's humble request for forgiveness, which He will not deny (See Matthew 7:7-11).
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