Solomon was the wisest, most wealthy person of his day. Yet he came to a profound revelation: “I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). What did he see in himself that caused him to come to such a conclusion?
He put it simply: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…” (Ecclesiastes 2:10) That’s what vanity is: desiring things of little real value; emptiness, worthlessness, uselessness. It’s seeking pleasure and satisfaction from things on which you place excessive value.
RELEVANCE
The worst decisions I’ve made in life were due to seeking after vanity. Why choose vanity? The world placed high value on those things. I’ve learned the hard way that the world overrates things. It’s called deception.
We are deceived when our heart attaches itself to something we shouldn’t want. That’s how vanity works. We see and want something of perceived value that appears good and makes you feel good, but lacks real substance because it merely appeals to our lustful carnal senses and satisfies pride. That’s exactly what the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents. It’s what the world feeds on.
REFLECT AND RELATE
What things have you valued that in reality, proved to be empty, useless and worthless?
Ask God to help you identify things of vanity. Earnestly seek Him for the gift of discernment.
Ask Him to define the criteria of what He would define as vanity.
REFERENCES
Ecclesiastes