Vanity

Focus: Psalms 144:4 - KJV

4. Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Job 8:8-10

The life of man on earth is characterized like a shadow or vapor. It appears to be real but within a twinkling of an eye, it fizzles away, and ironically, it is soon forgotten. A child is born and people are seen rejoicing. In no time, the same child starts to run about and the parents are filled with joy about his progress. Meanwhile, the same parents were once like the child and never knew how so fast adulthood caught up with them. On social media, a lady was presented with a mirror: looking at her own image, she thought it was someone else. By the time she realized it was her reflection she couldn’t believe what had happened to her. All the flower that she used to know had disappeared and only wrinkles and an ugly face was left. This will happen to everyone that is allowed some time on earth. Talking about time, Moses ascribes seventy years as the right lifetime for man and says if he attains eighty, it is full of stress. Then a great man said, from what Moses had said, then if a man attains ninety, he is a nonentity.

Gleaning from the foregoing, man ought to think deep about his life on earth. The span between age zero and eighty is like a twinkling of an eye. Some in the past acquired so much not thinking about God or their end. When the end caught up with them, all they labored and struggled for ended up wasted. The owner of the earth redistributed them. When life appears beautiful, man easily forgets that there is an end. Only the wise considers that man is of a short time and mostly full of troubles. When we put our hearts to this realization, we are able to consider living a just life so that when we vacate the earth, we may not be forgotten so soon. What is the mind of God? There is nothing on earth that belongs to any man. They all belong to God and should be treated as such. We take a lesson from the idea of the Manna! Each person was to take that which was sufficient for him and not over, else it spoilt. No wonder Jesus said if you have two coats (only), you should give one to your neighbor who has none.

Beloved, making acquisitions on earth without thinking of the end tends to vanity. From biblical accounts, no one had splendor like Solomon, whether living or dead. Yet, Christ made his array of wealth little compared to that of a sparrow. Even Solomon in the end considered all he had, vanity and vexation of spirit. By all means, make money the best you can; but by all means, please spread the wealth to others by which action you lay up treasures for yourself in heaven. There, nothing will eat up your treasures. Some ten decades ago, someone was said to be the richest man on earth. Today, another person is being considered. But where is the wealth of the then richest man? It has been eaten up by moth. Even his automobiles and clothing or his house are not attractive to the people of this age. Why kill ourselves over things that do not last? All is vanity.

SOLUTION: Let each day be lived with the end in mind. With that, we will live being conscious of the need to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. Life outside Christ is full of crisis and therefore vain. Take up the word of God and imbibe the tenets of Christ forthwith for a meaningful life.

Pray thus: Heavenly Father, do please create a new heart with the right spirit in me that I may live a forthright life by Christ Jesus and be pleasing unto you in Jesus’ name. Please let the time allotted to me to stay on earth be meaningful, and above all, do not let me forfeit the heavenly home by engaging in the vanities of the earth in Jesus’ name. Do bless me and make me a blessing today in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

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