Paths of Disappointment # 1

Paths of Disappointment # 1

"Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecc. 1:2)

Thirty-seven times the word "vanity" occurs in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Moreover, vanity is the key word of the Book of Ecclesiastes - the keynote to its dirge-like message.

"Vanity of vanities...All is vanity!" Now these words are not due to a fit of temporary depression. They are not given utterance because of some passing adverse circumstance. They were not born of the quick and passing bitterness begotten by the foul play of some friend who turned traitor. Subtle pride did not prompt this language of Solomon. They are, according to our judgment, the result of experience arrived at after mature and deliberate thought.

They are not the words of a man who walked a few paths, but the words of a man who walked many paths. Nor the words of one bored with the routine of some prosaic task. Nor the words of a man whose courage failed in some steep ascent of toil. Nor the words of one in rebellion against the tortures of some couch of pain.

Rather let us say that these are the words of one who sailed over many seas of human experience and made, with deliberate care, special notes and charts of his voyages. Words they are of one who drank of every cup and wrote a label for each. And in these words Solomon the wise, Solomon the rich, Solomon the mighty, has left the testimony that even a king could not find and cannot find genuine satisfaction in things finite, in things perishing, in things of the earth.

By what path shall I go to find the home of perfect happiness? Which road must I take to compass heart satisfaction? What must i do to find contentment: What must I do to have a "good time?" What must I do to be superior to the habitations in which I am domiciled? What must I do to have the merry heart within the stern war of things? What must I do to know the intoxication of pleasure without the dissipation of the soul's finest resources?

In answer, Solomon tried out five paths leaving each, discarding each in turn, until he cried over the grave of all disappointed hopes, as his life's fair morning died in dark sunset, "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!" And these five paths, which he tried out and traveled over and found paths of disappointment, do men try out and travel over today.

And these five paths are the only paths which men try. These five paths compass all the experiences and all the imaginations of men.

Let us be content to give these five paths telescopic observation, for we shall not have time to give them microscopic scrutiny. May the instruction thereof be received. May the warning therein be heeded.

1. The Path of Wisdom

"I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly" (Ecc. 1:17). Solomon knew everything as nearly as mortal man could know everything. His was no capsule brain capable of tidbits only. He was a scientist. He was a philosopher. He was a moralist and a historian. He was a publicist and a poet. He had a mind trained to observe, to meditate.

But with all this, he missed the one essential and found no rest for his heart. It is he, this great Solomon with all his glory, who, after roaming through all the realms of thoughts and imagination, of human wisdom and human knowledge, cried "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity."

"And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly; I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit" (Ecc. 1:17).

Once a man traveled a long way, a journey of many miles, to interview a distinguished scholar. The butler ushered him in, upon the presentation of his card, into the study of the great scholar. He was cordially greeted. Before seating himself he asked this question of the noted scholar:

"Doctor, I have come a long way to ask you just one question. I observe that the walls of your room are filled with books. This room is literally lined with them from ceiling to floor. I supposed you have read them all. I know you have written many books. You have traveled the world over; you have held intimate converse with the world's wisest men - its leaders of thought, its creators of opinion. Tell me, if you will, after the years you have spent in study, out of the things you have learned, what is the one thing best worth knowing?"

The great scholar's face flushed with emotion. He placed, with clumsy gentleness, both hands over the hands of his caller. And he said:

"My dear sir, out of all the things I have learned there are only two lessons best worth knowing. The first is, I am a great sinner. The second is, Jesus Christ is a great Saviour. In the knowledge of these two facts are applied in my own personal experience lies all my happiness and all my hopes!" 

Thus we learn in that man's answer, in many ways, that men may know some things and not the best things - the things best worth knowing. Thus we see that men may treasure rags and throw away treasures. Yes, though many many not see it, a man may know all about the rocks, and his heart be as hard as they. A man may know all about the winds and his life be swept by passions fiercer than they. A man may know all about the tides and the seas, and his life resemble their troubled waters that rest not and know no peace. A man may know all about light - the light of showers of meteors, the light of phosphorus, the light of millions of stars, the light of the moon when it hangs like a sickle, candle light, lamp light, electric light, the light of the aurora borealis - and not know Jesus who said "I am the Light of the world." A man may know all about roads in the country, roads in the jungle, roads through burning deserts, and not know Jesus who said, "i am the way."

All of which brings us to say, to ask, what shall it profit a man if he be a great artist and know not Jesus, the one altogether lovely? What shall it profit a man if he be a great architect and know not Jesus, the Chief Corner Stone? What shall it profit a man if he be a great baker and know not Jesus, the Living Bread? What shall it profit a man if he be a great banker and know not Jesus, the Priceless Possession? What shall it profit a man if he be a great biologist and know not Jesus, the Life? What shall it profit a man if he be a great builder and know not Jesus, the Sure Foundation? What shall it profit a man if he be a great carpenter and know not Jesus, the Door? What shall it profit a man if he be a great doctor and know not Jesus, the Great Physician? What shall it profit a man if he be a great educator and know not Jesus, the Teacher? What shall it profit a man if he be a great engineer and know not Jesus, the New and Living Way? 

~Robert G. Lee~

(continued  with # 2)