"I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19)

"Citizen Kane," starring Orson Welles, is a great movie about a man named Charles Foster Kane. Kane is patterned after the wealthy of the late 19th/early 20th century, with names like Randolph Hearst, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and other men of great wealth. Kane is a man who cannot get enough wealth, and he has amassed a large estate with real estate holdings, tangible wealth and influence and an ability to get what he wants when he wants it. Yet it is never enough. The movie starts on his deathbed on which he is holding a snow globe and his dying word is, "Rosebud."

Solomon must be in a frame of mind in his book of Ecclesiastes to say, "It's never enough to have it all." It is as though he is nearer to the end of his life rather than the beginning and is telling us, "Material wealth is folly." "Vanity" or "vapor" are two translations. It's gone in the bat of an eye, and it is utterly meaningless.

"Rosebud" was a sled that Kane had in childhood, and on his deathbed, it was the one possession he had that held special meaning. The rest was vanity. The entire movie is about the pursuit of vanity. It's a great movie, and given its time period it came out (1941), Randolph Hearst insisted it was entirely about him. Welles insisted it was a conglomeration of people.

Solomon is speaking to us about his life in Ecclesiastes, and we hear what he has to say. "Death will separate us from our profits," the study notes tell us. Who knows what he will do with what I leave? Jesus talks about this very thing in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25). Wise men use them, and fools lose them. Solomon sees that possibility as well.

To put our faith in things is vapor or vanity. Things are short-lived. Faith is where we find meaning and purpose. "God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy." Where do we find true joy? In Christ Jesus, the source of our faith and the only place where we can find true joy.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, I have received much in life, but it is all meaningless. Forgive me for my pursuit of material things when it turns to sin. Help me to remember that following your Son is what is most important in life, and helping others to know Him is as important, In Christ's name, Amen.