Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
What profit does a man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
— Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
She had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people and given them food.
— Ruth 1:6
A very wealthy man told me not long ago that what Solomon said is really true—everything under the sun is vanity (Eccl. 1:2—œ3). His wealth appeared to be extraordinary, yet his realization was, “Vanity of vanities.” Many of my schoolmates were very ambitious when they were in college. They planned to become ambassadors, CEOs, or professors. At a recent class reunion some of them said that they wished they had chosen the path I chose.
Why are so many of them open to the gospel right now, at this late stage in their lives? It is because they have discovered that nothing they have pursued is of any value. They envy me, for they know that I have found the storehouse of food. Yet they do not know the half of it. They do not know how I have enjoyed and gained Christ in the past fifty years, and how rich He has become to me. This very Christ has been wrought into me and has become my focus, my portion, and my operation.
The Lord has visited His people and has given them food (Ruth 1:6). The real satisfaction is with Christ Himself. When some see this, they rise up, realizing that only Christ is worthy of their pursuit. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may simply pursue Christ!
Adapted from Ruth: Growth Unto Maturity, page 18.
Tomorrow: “The Basic Visions (1): The World”