Better Off or Better?

“Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what [is] man the better?” (Ec 6:11 AV)

How true is that?  We build to ourselves what we consider our perfect life.  Not that these things are wrong in and of themselves.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of one’s labors.  Solomon makes that point time and again.  If we work hard, and we support the work of the LORD, and our family is well taken care of, then what harm does indulging in a few things really have?  Solomon does not advocate for poor stewardship.  Yet we don’t have to eat bread and water just to prove we are financially responsible.  The point Solomon is trying to make above is even if we were ethically and morally right in our financial decisions, and at the same time, enjoying the fruits of our labor, how are we the better for it?  We will all die and we cannot take anything with us.  If there is no God, then what point would it all make?  Are we really better people because of ethical pleasures in life?  Does mankind truly advance himself if a is successful?  He still dies.  He still dwells somewhere in eternity.  Even if there was no afterlife (and that is Solomon’s argument throughout this book) then are we really better off if we succeed?  What difference does it make?

I love that verse above.  It really sets things in perspective.  I have found a new, but brief, hobby.  I had an old computer.  It used to run on Windows Vista.  Through the years, it eventually settled on Windows 10.  That is where it topped out.  Because of battery issues, I replaced that computer with a 2-in-1.  Eight years later, I upgraded to a newer one, which will probably be my last.  But I have been sitting on this old laptop for about fifteen years.  Then a friend of mine suggested I try to install Linux.  What fun!  There were a few hiccups along the way, but it is up and running.  Now, I am installing open source software to see if it would meet my basic needs.  There isn’t sufficient Bible study software that compares to Windows and Apple, but it can be worked with.  My goal was to have a forever machine that will last until the LORD calls me home.  I won’t need much.  Bible study, word processing, and internet is about all I’ll need.  So, I figured I would learn the world of open source so when it came time to pare down, I could work with the bare minimum.

Conversely, as older people tend to muse, I chuckle at the headache my children will have when we pass away and they have to deal with the vast amount of stuff we have accumulated.  Actually, it isn’t very much.  My wife and I live pretty simple.  We do not have a home of our own.  We don’t have all the maintenance equipment required for a house.  We have only one car.  Aside from too many shoes and shirts, I think we are pretty lean.  We could fit all we have in a two-bedroom apartment with a storage area in the basement.  Not much stuff at all.  But I have seen some families that take six months to a year to divest an entire estate once their parents pass.  This is not wrong or sinful.  Praise the LORD He has prospered them through hard work and righteous living.  But the question remains.  What kind of person do we become or what eternal value does it all have?  There are righteous people among the poor as well as among the wealthy.  There are God-fearing people among the needy as well as the rich.  Solomon is trying to say that the pursuit of wealth or things that define us is a vanity.  In the end, if there is not God, it really doesn’t make a difference.  The only thing that makes a difference is the person we become by the hand of God.  God does exist.  His blessing is meant to be used for His glory.  We can certainly enjoy them.  But the eternal purpose for them is what matters.