CHASING THE WIND

“I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless--like chasing the wind.”  Ecclesiastes 1:14

     In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says several times that nothing is new in the world; that everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  This world offers us nothing but temporal pleasure at a cost of incredible pressure, pain and disappointment.  When all is said and done there is nothing outside of God that makes life worth living.  Mankind searches for what he feels he needs most never grasping the concept that without forgiveness for sin nothing else really matters.  Various other “religions” offer no lasting solution to the real problem.  What they offer is, quite literally, like placing a single Band-Aid on a gaping wound.  You wound bleed out before the Band-Aid would be of any help to you.

     “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless--like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”  Ecclesiastes 2:11 

     Solomon was told by God to ask for anything and it would be given to him (1 King 3:1-15; 2 Chronicles 1:1-12).  The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s request for wisdom to rule over the people of Israel.  Therefore God gave Solomon everything he did NOT ask for as well.  The key here is that when God gives us wisdom we are expected to use it for God’s glory and not our own advantage. 

     The uselessness of life without God is exactly like trying to capture the wind.  While we can see the effects of the wind, we cannot actually see the wind itself.  If we can’t see it, how on earth would we be able to grasp hold of it?  Solomon had been there, done that, written the book and made the movie, as the saying goes.  There doesn’t appear to be anything he hasn’t partaken of.  Using his vast knowledge and experience as a backdrop, he can confidently say to his readers that there is absolutely nothing worthwhile anywhere that can compare to knowing God.  To know Him is to immerse yourself in His person, His word and His spirit.  It’s the only way any of us can truly emulate the Lord this side of heaven.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources:  Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Entire Bible.

The translation used is the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION.