Sunshine chaser

I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. — Ecclesiastes 2:10 

Diana and Dave love to ride their jet skis on the lake, skimming across the water on warm sunny days. But one morning the weather was cool and mostly cloudy, and Diana couldn’t convince Dave to go out. So she went on her own. It was so cool that she flitted back and forth across the lake, trying to keep herself in the sunshine for some needed warmth. But every time she reached a sunny area, the clouds moved and it quickly turned to shade. Realizing the futility and silliness of chasing the sunshine, she finally gave up because it didn’t bring her what she wanted.

King Solomon did another kind of chasing that couldn’t bring him satisfaction (Eccl. 2:1). In the first 11 verses of Ecclesiastes 2 alone, he mentions that he chased after pleasure, laughter, wine, wisdom, houses, gardens, money, possessions, and music. But his evaluation was that “all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (2:11). Those pursuits were empty — “vanity of vanities” (1:2). He wisely concluded: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (12:13).

Are you chasing after some of the same things that Solomon was? It’s a vain pursuit. Purpose and satisfaction come only from knowing and obeying God. — Anne Cetas

Chasing after empty pleasure

Will not satisfy one’s heart;

But to those who follow Jesus,

Life’s fulfillment He’ll impart. — Sper

READ: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Only God can fill an empty heart.

The Bible in one year:

• Psalm 119:1-88

• 1 Corinthians 7:20-40