able man. The phrase "vexation of spirit" in vs. 11 is very interesting. It really means searching for the wind and feeding on it. What a picture. Wind will inflate a balloon or a man, but the works of the flesh will not provide peace for the soul. Solomon found out the hard way that wisdom does not even satisfy (2:12-16). The only conclusion he could reach was that the educated man, with human wisdom, and the fool who walks in moral darkness, both die the same kind of a death. They go to the same place under the same condemnation of sin without the Lord. They are both soon forgotten (2:14-16). Keep in mind that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." World ly wisdom can only breed pride and vanity. Sometimes it hinders rather than helps a soul to yield in repentance and faith. Through the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way by which a person can ever find spiritual satisfaction. You may be justly proud of all your earthly attainments but if you have never received the Saviour you will never find eternal life. So quickly gone are all the things on which so many people depend in this life. Only Christ will last. Yes, Solomon was a man of unforgettable charac ter who showed us the absolute emptiness of human life without a spiritual objective. The Bible, as a wonderful cata lyst, reveals to us the many faceted sides of life as seen in those whose backgrounds are traced for us. Sol omon, the son of David, was re sponsible for the book of Eccles iastes. He came to find that life itself, apart from following the Lord, is empty and shallow in every
aspect. This king began well but ended poorly. The tragedy of his existence is seen as an unforget table warning for us today. To trust in material things will always result in emptiness. Even good works, whatever they may happen to be, will not satisfy. All of his labors were not much more than folly in the light of eternal goals. Keep in mind that Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 different songs. The greatest of the latter is the book known as the Song of Solomon.) He was an in structor in botany and zoology (I Kings 4:32). The people and the kings of the earth all came to Jeru salem to listen to his wisdom. God had given this knowledge to him in answer to his prayer. At the end of Solomon's days he was in an unfortunate backslidden condition spiritually. He was made aware of the fact that after an indi vidual dies people forget him. All that he may have done was to stir the landscape a little bit, or to cause a few waves in an overwhelming ocean. Yet, all is soon forgotten. No one can tell where the waves once were. This is the course of human life and is true of us all. "No furrows are left in the water we plough." Little waves may break upon the shore but they soon sub side. Footprints in the sands of time are quickly erased by the restless tides of life. If you are striving only for what this life can give, with no thought for eternity to come, Solomon's telling you that you are very, very foolish. This is not to say that there is something wrong with a legiti mate pursuit of getting to the top in whatever your goals may be. Do not do it, however, at the expense
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