Vanity of Vanities; All is Vanity

Are you trusting in the vanities of this world for your satisfaction?

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,
vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
What profit hath a man of all his labor
which he taketh under the sun?"

• Vanity - "Hebel" (הֶבֶל): emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory;
                  altogether vain.

All the things of this world will only bring emptiness and a continually unsatisfied spirit. Searching and seeking for even good and wholesome things is all vain. We must seek the Lord, and Him only.

Matthew 6:25-34

"...Take no thought for your life...
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin...
even Solomon in his glory was not arrayed like one of these...
O ye of little faith... your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you..." 

God knows every one of our needs, and promises to fill them so long as we seek Him first.
Even our mere desires, He sees - He places them within our hearts!

Psalm 37:4-5

"Delight thyself also in the Lord;
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him;
and he shall bring it to pass."

If we seek the Lord first (delight in Him), He will align our will with His. He will literally place the desire in our hearts to be what He has for us to be. Then, if we commit our ways to Him, He will take the desires of our hearts (that He placed there!) and will bring them to pass. This is the pathway to Christlikeness.

Along with giving us the desire to be something that honours and pleases God, He will also give us the desire to do things that honour and glorify Him. (ex: share the Gospel, eat, sleep, breathe)

I Corinthians 10:31

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God."

In all that we do - eating, drinking, whatever! - we can and ought to do it all to glorify the Lord.

Worldly men and carnal Christians feel the need to work and toil and carry unbearable burdens as they search for satisfaction where it can never be found (Ecclesiastes 9:10). But we are called to something much greater!

God does not call us to toil and spin, but to take His yoke upon ourselves, and simply follow His leading.

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart;
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."