Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 (NRSV)
Read Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 on biblegateway.com
Verse 2Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
Verse 12I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, Verse 13applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. Verse 14I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. Verse 18I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me Verse 19-and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. Verse 20So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, Verse 21because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. Verse 22What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? Verse 23For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.
Devotion
The Teacher needs cheering up! Is vanity - emptiness – really all there is? Is it an “unhappy business” that God has given us? This seems a little harsh. Surely God has given us a lot that is joyful. Even our work can be filled with purpose.
There is, however, a reality in this insight. It is not the accumulation of goods, it is not even the purposefulness of our labors which ultimately give our life its meaning. Those who are unemployed, underemployed, overworked, or mismatched can find hope in the reminder that our value in God’s eyes, and in the eyes of those who love us, is not related to our productivity. I am going to leave all my stuff to other people. When I am dead, my relatives will clean out my house and all my “treasures” will go to the local thrift store or the nearest landfill.
Nevertheless, I hope that those who love me will not remember what my stuff meant to me, but what I meant to them. I know that this is what God will remember.
Prayer
Gracious and Holy One, the work you have given me is not just emptiness, even when it is a vexation. Help me keep wisdom in mind, the wisdom to see my labors as an opportunity to serve you rather than as a means to buy more stuff. You mean more to me than the things I possess. Help me to live in that wisdom. Amen.