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Vain Illusions
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I started to write this article three weeks ago but I see now that God wanted me to better understand the verses I was looking at before I finished writing this so let me try again. I don’t know what it is about illusions but I think they are really cool. Weather you are talking about magic illusions or picture illusions, I find them fascinating. But my favorite of all illusions is the picture above entitled “Vanity”. I have found it in several different forms including the ones called “Flattery” and “Gossip”. What I like best is what it represents- a deadly poison (which is exactly what vanity is). In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer over and over again uses the phrase “meaningless, meaningless” or “vanity of vanities” (which is to say, “the most vain of all”) in reference to life in general. Something really interesting about that phrase is that in the Spanish version of this verse (La Biblia Versión Popular) it says, “Vana illusíon” or “Vain illusion”.
One of the key teachings of Ecclesiastes is that everything is a vain illusion. Learning is a vain illusion (Ecc. 1:12-14). Great achievements and pleasure are vain illusions (Ecc. 2: 4-11). Work is a vain illusion (Ecc. 2:17-18). Money and wealth are vain illusions (Ecc. 5:10). All these things that we use to measure success are vain illusions. They seem so pretty when we first look at them but really they are a poison, a vain illusion.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes ends the book with what is NOT a vain illusion. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecc. 12:13)” While knowledge, achievements, pleasure, work, money, and wealth may be OK, according to Ecclesiastes, if that is our focus, if that is how we measure success, we are like that picture and your life is actually filled with a deadly poison and will kill us.
So how do you measure success? Is it by your GPA, the amount of money you have, or maybe it is by your accomplishments in sports. According to Ecclesiastes 12:13, success is found in a person's ability to (1) fear God and (2) keep his commandments. These two things are things anyone can do and it's not based on how smart or talented you are, if you were born in the right place or to the right family or even how much you achieve. It is simply based on your relationship with God and focusing on doing what he says. Over the past few weeks God has been showing me that while I may not be as talented as some, as rich as many, as knowledgeable as others or even accomplished as most, the true measure of success in my life should be centered on fearing God and keeping his commands. That is all that matters.
So where’s your focus? How do you measure success? Is it on vain illusions that lead to a deadly poison or on God? Don’t let Satan mislead you.
His…Daryl Miller
(Be sure to check out the collection of illusions by clicking here!)
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