Much knowledge is also vanity upon vanity

Two nights ago, when I was doing my quiet time, I sat down with my Bible and asked God what He will say to me tonight,
And then quietly I felt Him tell me to refer to Ecclesiates. While looking for the book of Ecclesiates, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “everything is meaningless, it is a mere chasing of the wind..” As I was pondering upon that verse, I found the book of Ecclesiastes only to realize that the verse came right from the book of ECCLESIASTES! I then knew without a doubt that God was really highlighting that text to me. I then subsequently read up the Commentary to find out more on Ecclesiastes and to search for what God wanted to say..

It said, “If this world, in its present state, were all, it would not be worth living for; and the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much, are not enough to make us happy. What profit has a man of all his labour? All he gets by it will not supply the wants of the soul, nor satisfy its desires; will not atone for the sins of the soul…Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the more he knew, the more he saw cause to lament and mourn. Let us learn to hate and fear sin, the cause of all this vanity and misery; to value Christ; to seek rest in the knowledge, love, and service of the Saviour.”

You see, I happen to be one who is rather critical, seeking to define the rights and wrongs in the things I see, I judge, I thirst after knowledge. And this is merely one part of me.

Then, there’s the other part of me that struggles.. I struggle constantly upon this ‘thorn of my flesh’ – it is my weakness, it is the cross I bear, and I struggle to overcome it. One night, I even had a dream. I dreamt of my secondary classmate whom I bumped into on the streets one day. I asked her what she was doing and realized to my surprise she is a praise and worship leader in her church! (She had never been the religious type as far as I knew) Not long into the conversation, I invited her to go clubbing one of these nights, which in the dream, was symbolic of going into a past lifestyle.. But to which she refused.. She replied with utmost sincerity, “I have sacrificed a lot to be where I am and worked very hard to come all the way to become the leader today.. I really do not want to throw it all away – it would be a waste.” Hearing from her made me identify with my own situation. I too, have come a long way. Am I prepared to throw it all away in exchange for temporal gains?

I woke up the next day pondering upon that dream, knowing that there was a message behind it, and God was helping me make a godly choice about the temptations that I face.

Truly, the pursuit of all things material is nothing but vanity. Vanity upon vanity, vanities of all vanities, and it is meaningless; a mere chasing of the wind.


--
I continue to pray for God’s guidance and His divine protection upon my life; that I will have His wisdom to make the right choices in life.

Without You God, life would be a hell, but as long as I have You, even hell would be a heaven.

I thank You God for being close by my side. I feel You with me. And I feel blissful and secure..