Key Verse: Verse 2 - “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity."
Key Words: all is vanity
The word vanity is used 28 times by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. The word means emptiness. As you read in verses 4 – 11, you see that Solomon says that life is nothing but an endless circle. For example, he says one generation passes, another comes up and goes down so it can come up again. The wind blows toward the south and runs toward the north and repeats the cycle all over again. It’s all vanity!!
Have you ever felt that way? You get up in the morning, you drink your morning drink, you get dressed, go to work, come home, go to bed, only to do it all over again the next day. Solomon says life is nothing but a vain repetition.
At Disney World there is a ride that I took my children on. If you've ever been to Disney World, you've probably taken your children on it too. It’s called “It’s a Small World After All.” I remember well when I took my children on this ride because we rode around and around and around. On this ride you go through different cultures and see different children, dressed in different ways, singing the same song. “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all, it’s a small, small world.”
The first time around it was okay; the second time around it was tolerable. The third time around it got on my nerves. The fourth time around I wanted to jump in the water and swim back, because that small world being sung by those small people was really getting on my nerves.
Life can be that sometimes. It can seem like a small world. Sometimes it can feel like you can’t break out and see some things happen and unfold like you think things ought to.
Many of us are living lives of want – lives of dissatisfaction. We want more and the world’s too small. Every time we think we’ve found the thing we want, up pops a temporary sign to let us know it won’t be around that long. There is one expectation after another, one disappointment after another, one strain and struggle after another, and we are just not satisfied. We soon discover when we’ve lived long enough, that there is no friendship, championship, scholarship, relationship, ownership, or fellowship that can fully satisfy our wants.
Life is full of repetition and it will seem to become all vanity unless our attitude toward repetition changes.
We should not just see life as repetitive monotony but opportunities to correct what we messed up yesterday!!
What to do:
✞ Correct what you messed up yesterday!!
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