Vanity of Worldly Possessions

TEXT: ECCLESIASTES 4:1-8

"Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit" (Ecclesiastes 4:6).

In 1929, during Hoover’s first year as president of the United States, the prosperity of the 1920’s capsized. Stock prices climbed to unprecedented heights as investors speculated in the stock market. The speculative binge, in which people bought and sold stocks for higher and higher prices, was fueled by easy credit, which allowed purchasers to buy stock ‘on margin.’ More and more investors poured money into stocks. Unrestrained buying and selling fed an upward spiral that ended on October 29, 1929 when the stock market collapsed. The great crash shattered the economy. Fortunes vanished in days. This explains the vanity of man’s struggle here on earth. There is need for us to apply wisdom in investing our time and wealth in things of earthly value. God expects us to work hard but with moderation.

The Preacher, in our text, concludes that all men - the oppressor and the oppressed, the rich and the poor - are subject to life’s transience, and that our endeavours and travails are hopelessly vulnerable. Human labour and achievements are "vanity and vexation of the spirit."

The Lord admonishes us to lay our treasures in heaven where corruption cannot destroy them. Jesus Christ makes our life here on earth meaningful and He is the reason for our hope. When we surrender our lives totally to him, we receive everlasting peace in a world of turmoil and pain. Ultimately, one will endure while the other will vanish.

How we need to reorder our priorities today, laying more emphasis on the eternal rather than on temporal values. It is only then that we can experience perfect tranquility and prepare ourselves for God’s Kingdom.

Thought for the day: "Lay for yourself treasures in heaven"