Today's readings are Ecclesiastes 2.1-26 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Eccl.+2.1-26 ) and John 7.1-13 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=John+7.1-13 ).
Vanity! All is in vain! What good is this to me? I may as well spend my children's inheritance since they won't thank me enough for it anyway! Our lives are full of situations that in reality don't matter. In their final outcome many of our concerns and desires prove worthless. The author of Ecclesiastes gives himself to pleasurable things such as wine, enticing marriages, wealth, power, and all the trappings of that wealth and power. He finds it is ultimately worthless.
Does this mean that we should reject worldly things altogether? Because the wine is good should I refuse it and drink what is not good? Because wealth is attractive should I strive to be a beggar? Not at all. The issue of this passage is where my desires and hope lie.
What riches do we cling to? Do we cling to the things which may be pleasing at the moment but are ultimately worthless? Do we cling to him who is our treasure, our Lord and Savior? Let us not act according to the folly of the vain ruler. He has found all the trappings of this world to be foolishness. Let us learn from him, and desire eternal things, which are not foolish.
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