That’s the Bottom-Line  

Read: Ecclesiastes 1 ESV – All Is Vanity – The words of the – Bible Gateway

“That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT

Although there is some debate over who wrote the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, most scholars conclude it was King Solomon in his final years. The richest and most powerful man in the world along with being the wisest man alive through God’s blessings found himself saying, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecc.1:2 esv) The Hebrew word translated ‘vanity’ acknowledges it is a useless attempt to enjoy life outside of God. So, are you enjoying your life?

Yes, I understand life is hard. It is harder for some people that others, but that shouldn’t hinder you from enjoying life. The first half of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 is a poem on the futility of our work. Our common phrase. ‘same ol’, same ol’, just a different day’ would fit well in these verses in our day. Solomon says he has seen everything done under the sun and it is useless. It just gets done over again; there is nothing new. Several human vanities are listed by King Solomon such as wisdom, effort, achievements, power, among other things including life itself as all useless ‘grasping for the wind.’ It does sound depressing, our lives as vanity of vanities.

Solomon’s conclusion is this as we get to end of Ecclesiastes, “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” (Ecc.12:13 nlt) That’s the bottom line. Our lives only have meaning when we are in a right relationship with God. When fearing God (having a loving reverence for Him) we not only gain wisdom but have a lifetime of joy and peace. The prophet Micah speaks along these same lines, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic.6:8 esv) Trying to do life without God will result in vanity of vanities and that’s the bottom line.