And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:10-12
How senseless does it sound to spend our lives chasing air? Yet, many of us do it. You can’t see it, taste it, or ever catch it, no matter how fast you run. It cannot be captured. So why the wasted effort and toil? This verse is explaining what Solomon ended up with after spending his life chasing happiness in all the wrong places. He kept no pleasure from his heart. He denied himself nothing. Whatever he wanted, he got it. But in the end, he realized that it was all worth nothing, chasing the wind, with nothing to be gained.
When we strive and seek happiness, self-worth, and pleasure in anything that is not God or God ordained in our lives, we will be left feeling the same way as Solomon. We can grasp hard to what our heart desires or whatever is pleasing to our eye, but if it isn’t Jesus, we will be left with nothing more than a fist full of air and a heart that is empty and lonely. Wisdom, knowledge, and happiness comes to all who please God, who live for God, and seek from Him. We cannot find long lasting and fulfilling meaning of life from anything other than God. Anything other than Him will disappoint and leave us empty.
Solomon speaks of a great consequence…everything was meaningless…
meaningless = (heh'-bel) vanity, emptiness, unsatisfactory, worthless
The work God has given us to allow us to achieve becomes meaningless. It will not satisfy us. All our possessions which God has given to us to enjoy will become empty with no meaning in them. Our relationships will fail us. We can become focused on the stuff of life not the meaning of life, with a high price, and a great consequence. A price tag of emptiness. It's all so futile, like grasping at the wind…like eating air. There is no meaning without purpose and there is no lasting purpose without God.
Solomon was in utter despair, coming to grips with his own mortality. Life is short. Are you toiling in vain? Are you striving after the wind? When you are faced with your own mortality, what will you look back on? A fist full of air and an empty heart? It is a sobering thought to think about what we have to show for our time here on earth, but the time to think about it is now, not later. Don’t waste anymore of your life with nothing to gain. Seek what is meaningful, eternal, and the only place to find true happiness and fulfillment. God Himself.
Scripture to Clam:
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26
