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Scripture Reading: Eccl. 1:2-11
Hymns, #1080 speaks of the vanity of human life. Regardless of the circumstances, man has a strong sense that things are vain if he is without God. The chorus of this hymn says, “Vanity! Vanity! / Vanity! Vanity! / ’Tis chasing the wind, / It’s all vanity!” Even when people consider their parents, husbands, wives, and children, they have a sense of vanity. In such cases the hymn can be changed to say, “Parents are vain! / Children are vain! / Husbands are vain! / Wives are vain! / ’Tis chasing the wind, / It’s all vanity!” This sense of vanity also covers teachers, students, schools, and work, so the hymn also could say, “Teachers are vain! / Students are vain! / Schools are vain! / Work is vain! / ’Tis chasing the wind, / It’s all vanity!”
At some point in our human life, we all have a sense of the vanity of human life: work is vain, adults are vain, children are vain, houses are vain, buying and selling are vain, and riches are vain. Everyone and everything are vain: you are vain, I am vain, clothing is vain, food is vain, staying at home is vain, traveling is vain, east is vain, west is vain, south is vain, north is vain, ancient times are vain, and modern times are vain. Everything in human life eventually causes people to sense the vanity of human existence without God. The Chinese are fond of speaking about blessings, wealth, longevity, and happiness. In fact, blessings are vain, wealth is vain, longevity is vain, and happiness is vain. It is not a coincidence that newspapers and magazines often have stories about successful people who have committed suicide. This shows the uncertainty of everything and that efforts to find something certain are like chasing the wind.
Are our husbands, wives, riches, positions, houses, and knowledge dependable? Even if we depend on these things, they can be gone in the twinkling of an eye. Today’s happiness often is the source of tomorrow’s grief. Nothing and no one on earth are reliable. The preceding chapter spoke of God’s existence, whereas this chapter speaks of the vanity of man’s existence. In regard to man, the only word is vanity. Man experiences vanity because he is full of vanity and not satisfied inwardly. Instead, he is hungry, thirsty, and empty. He is full of anguish rather than rest, sorrow rather than joy. Some may say that they are too busy to feel empty, but after many years everyone senses the tediousness of human life.
Given this sense of vanity, it is very important to know the meaning of human life. This seems like a simple matter, but in general people have no answer about the meaning of human life. There is a saying in northern China that a man’s life consists of “three fillings and one lying every day.” This refers to a person eating three meals a day and sleeping at night. According to this saying, a person’s life consists of being filled with food in the morning, being filled with food at noon, being filled with food in the evening, and then lying down to sleep. When morning comes, his stomach is empty, and he needs to be filled again. In brief, his life involves eating three times a day and sleeping once a day. This is true for adults, children, those with an education, those with no education, common people, and even emperors. It is true for everyone. By the time I was twenty-one years old, after eating and sleeping for more than twenty years, I felt that life was meaningless, mundane, and dull. I even asked myself, “Is this all that man is living for?”
Sixteen years ago I received the calling to go to Shanghai for the Lord’s work. When I was riding in a car on Nanking Road, I saw trams, automobiles, foreign cars, and bicycles passing by from all directions. A policeman was directing traffic with red and green lights. When he signaled red, everyone had to stop in one direction, and when he signaled green, everyone could move in the other direction. All the people in the vehicles were watching the traffic lights. They were staring straight ahead with their full attention on the policeman. I cried out in my heart, “You run here and there every day, but what is it all for?”
People run continually every day. Many are running nonstop in Taiwan. Ten years of running will turn into twenty years, and twenty years will turn into forty years. Even after sixty years, many will still be running. Even though so many are running, they are running mainly to just eat and sleep.
Those who run well live in nice houses and ride in automobiles; those who run poorly live in shelters and travel on foot. Students also run daily. They run to be admitted to a school, but if they are not admitted to a school, they still run every day. After finishing kindergarten, they run to elementary school; after finishing elementary school, they run to high school; after finishing high school, they run to the university; they run continuously to eat and sleep better in the future. A person who is a bureau chief will run to be an agency head, and a cabinet member will run to be the president. Everything is for eating and sleeping, but is the meaning of human life merely eating and sleeping? If this were the case, life would be pitiful. Those who work in companies say that they are serving society, and those who work in government offices say that they are serving the country. Actually, they are only eating and sleeping. They run from place to place and toil simply so that they can eat and sleep. Is this the meaning of human life?
Just eating and sleeping is not God’s original intention for man. According to a Chinese saying, “Man is the spirit of all creatures.” This is not wrong. In God’s creation man was originally noble, extraordinary, and special. Now, however, everyone groans about the meaninglessness of human life. Originally, man was full of purpose, but since he lost his original position and function, he has also lost his purpose.
Man was made by God for God; this gave great meaning to man in the beginning. However, man has become alienated from God. He does not know God, does not have God, and does not believe in God. Without God, man is left with a sense of vanity and meaninglessness related to his human life. Man is like a light bulb that cannot shine. The function of a light bulb is to be placed in a lamp so that it can shine and fulfill its function of illumination. If a light bulb is placed in anything other than a lamp, it will be useless, and its inability to shine will make its existence superfluous. This is man’s condition without God.
Man is made for God. If he is not for God, his life is meaningless. If a man puts on beautiful clothing, he will eventually feel meaningless. If a man has a good family, he will eventually feel meaningless. Even a high position will not take away a sense of meaninglessness because a high position is not the reason for man’s existence. Only when a man touches God does he have a sense of meaning, joy, strength, and power. Man is a “single-purpose” item. He was made solely for God. Hence, when a man has God, he does not have a sense of vanity; instead, he has satisfaction, joy, and peace.
All the problems of human life are due to not having God. Whatever man relies on will always be a source of sorrow and vanity (Eccl. 1:2-3). There was a mother who gave birth to a child, and she named him Little Treasure. When he was young, the mother would lovingly call him “Little Treasure! Little Treasure!” As he grew, Little Treasure began to cause her to be full of sorrow and tears. When she was asked about the reason for her tears, she said, “Little Treasure is growing up and is no longer obedient.” When I heard this, I laughed inwardly, saying, “Little Treasure has become Annoying Treasure.”
Another sister also treasured her son, but when her precious son was married, he no longer seemed to care as much for his mother. The mother wept every day. When we visited her, she said, “My dear son no longer loves me; he is always with his wife.” I told her, “Your strong love for your son is the source of your pain.” When the child of another mother suddenly died, the mother was broken-hearted and wept over the coffin, crying, “I wish that I could go with you, my dear child; you have ruined me!” She experienced such great pain because she loved her child apart from God and because her love was excessive.
There was a highly educated sister who taught in the university and accumulated much wealth. She did not spend much money on food and clothing, but she exerted every effort to make money. However, she did not know where to put her money. She felt that it was unsafe to entrust her money to friends or to deposit it in Chinese banks. Eventually, she put her money in a foreign bank in Shanghai. One day, however, this bank suddenly closed. When the sister heard the news, she almost became insane with grief. Money truly destroyed her.
We should be cautious. Wives must be cautious, and husbands must be cautious. Everything that we depend on can be a source of vanity. If a wife depends on her husband, he will bring her vanity. If a husband depends on his wife, she will bring him vanity. Only when we depend on God will we have satisfaction, joy, and peace.
Before World War II there was a rich man in Shanghai who had a nice house and a nice car. He also had a doorkeeper. The rich man was under stress every day, and he could not eat or sleep well. When he asked his wife about the reason for his stress, she could not give him a reason. Eventually, he said, “The only one who eats and sleeps well is my doorkeeper, because he has no money. Since he has no money, nothing matters to him.” The wife did not believe her husband, so he said, “If you do not believe me, I will make him lose all his sleep tonight.” Then the rich man gave five hundred dollars to the doorkeeper. Throughout the day the doorkeeper considered how to spend the five hundred dollars, but he could not decide what to do with the money. When he could not decide, he wrapped up the money, put it under his pillow, and tried to go to sleep. However, he would repeatedly feel the money and then look at it. Eventually, he did not sleep well the whole night. When the rich man heard about his lack of sleep, he told his wife, “Money also has made me unable to eat or sleep well.”
This does not mean that money is useless; rather, the problem is that we set our heart on money. We suffer because we love money instead of God. We need to see that money is vain and that a heart set on vanity can only be vain. This is true of everything, not just money. As long as we stay away from God and set our heart on anything that is vain, we will be empty and miserable. If we love God, we will have God, but many do not have God because they do not love Him. This is the reason for their vanity and misery.
As long as we do not want God and do not have God, we will have a sense of vanity related to our family. Similarly, organizations, societies, and countries are vain. Without God, families, organizations, societies, countries, and even the whole world will be a source of vanity and misery. If there is no God, there can only be vanity and misery. Since man was made for God, man can be satisfied, joyous, and peaceful only when he has God.
