Chasing the Vapor | Ep. 2

All right guys, well we are in week two of our Chasing the Vapor Bible Study. And so week one, we had the opportunity just to set up the book, the writer, the themes of what we're gonna be talking about. And for those that are keeping up with our study on their own or in a group, we're gonna be in a couple of different passages today. The first one comes in Ecclesiastes 2, one through 11, and then the second one is in Ecclesiastes 5. But I'm curious, like for you guys, because the theme for this week is called Unceasing Hunger. And that's a strong phrase, that is a strong phrase. So where do you two see that? That phrase in our culture, in yourself, in the church, any of the above? - Gosh, in a lot of places. I think the first place I see it is social media, obviously, because of this concept of influencers, and it's like, never enough. Even this morning, like when I was on Instagram, there was like two or three posts in a row of these influencers are saying, okay, you need this. Like you need this for wellness, or your clothing, or your diet, like it's just this never ending cycle of, you're not good enough because you don't have this thing, or this thing will satisfy you. And I just feel like a lot of pressure with that, personally, of, well, I'm never gonna hit the mark, I'm never gonna have enough, or be enough,

or do all the right things. And so I see it just like this constant need for more and more and more, and it's never gonna fulfill this, and there's always something else. Like even if I did buy that thing, what would I do tomorrow? Probably be influenced by another thing. And so even in my own life, I just see it as this constant need for more, and I hate that about myself, but I also know it does point me to something deeper, like a deeper need and a longing for the Lord. - That's good. Yeah, I agree with Sarah. I think we just live in a culture where it's always more and more and more, if there's never enough there, and because of that, always feel a sense of discontent, right? We are always unhappy with things because we don't have the things that we want. Like it's really easy for me to see that in my kids, right? Like our seven year old, this weekend, in fact, was, you know, we came into the living room and he's like, oh, I'm just bored. I don't know anything. You're just like, bro, you have like 35 dyno toys. Like go play with that, or you got magnetiles. You have a switch. Like go do those things. But we just have that discontent of me,

there's like, there's nothing to do. I don't have what I want. I don't have what I think I need. And we see that across our culture, right? Like we live in one of the, if not the most, affluent culture in the history of the world. And yet we feel this discontent with like, oh, the system or whatever has failed us. Or, you know, I saw a stat last night where it was saying, you know, in the past 30 years, I think we've doubled the amount of people who make like $250,000 a year. Like that's their income. And yet we feel like as a culture, like we're behind and we're not getting enough and we don't have what we need. And I think that quest for more is just always bound to make us feel discontent. And instead of focusing on what we have, we focus on what do they have. And I'm gonna feel better when I have that. - Yeah, we get into that comparison game. We start seeing what other people have, what other people don't have that we do. And that makes us feel better, right? About ourself and it's this constant comparison. And, you know, we talked last week about this book being Ecclesiastes, being a part of the wisdom literature, you know, in the Old Testament and how, you know, there's this idea that there's a kind of the world wisdom

and then there's God's wisdom. And the writer here in chapter two decides that, okay, well, I am going to try to find meaning in my life by pursuing all of these different pleasures. And like Sarah had mentioned last week is that where Job loses everything, right? Well, Solomon, this author, is in a place to where he can pursue all of these things. Like he's able to do this. And so I just want to read a few of them. He says that he enlarged his works. He built houses for himself. He planted vineyards for himself, gardens, parks, all types of fruit trees, ponds of water. He tried to fill his life with male and female slaves and homeborn slaves and flocks and herds and silver and gold and treasure and male and female singers and concubines. And he gave himself in verse 10. He said, all that my eyes desired, all his activities in verse 11, he said all was vanity, all was striving after the wind. And when for a people like us who live in a place and in a culture where we think that satisfaction comes externally rather than internally, this is bad news. This is bad news, but where does this come from? Like why do we struggle with this so much? I think the Bible and Ecclesiastes in particular helps us understand so much of our needs and desires and our wants are extraordinarily warped by sin and by the fall. One of the things that has really occurred to me in studying Ecclesiastes is that Ecclesiastes describes life in a Genesis 3 world. What I mean by that is when we read Genesis 1 and 2, that's eaten, that's paradise, that's perfection, that is the world without sin. And everything from Genesis 3 on is messed up. And you look at Genesis 1 and 2 and you think about what

we had there, what we had in terms of, because Solomon uses some of the language here in Ecclesiastes 2, we had all these trees, we had this garden, we had relationships with each other, but most importantly we had a relationship with God. And I think what has happened since Genesis 3 is we lost all that and we don't know how to get it back. There's something within us that knows like, oh, I was created for this, I was created for Eden and I'm stuck on earth. So how in the world do I get back to what I had? How in the world do I fill that gap in my life, in my soul? And we just can't find anything here that's going to do it. Yeah, it reminds me of this quote by Tom Brady, I came across this years ago. Like the Tom Brady? Like the Tom Brady, like I don't think he ever, right, I don't think he ever thought that he'd be using an Ecclesiastes study, but here we go. Yeah, I came across this quote quite a few years ago and I've used it a lot just with my own personal life and just in different groups. And so Brady has asked just how he feels. He had just won the Super Bowl and that's what he says. He says, "There's times where I'm not the person that I want to be. Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me?" I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, "Hey man, this is what it is." I reached my goal, my dream, my life. And then I think he doesn't acknowledge the Lord here, but this is just his quote. He says, "God, it's got to be more than this." I mean, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be. I mean, I've done it. I'm 27 and what else is there for me. So the interviewer asks him, "What's the answer?" And he goes, "I wish I knew." And I think that just points to such a deep longing in all of us if there's something more and I'm trying to fulfill it and I'm trying to fill this ache in my heart with all of these things that I see and chasing after that nothing's going to satisfy it. And again, it's what that under the Sun concept, right? We've been chasing this since the beginning of time and of course, comparison, I think is a huge part of it now because then we see what other people have and what we don't have. And so then it gets into, "Well, is God not fair to me? Why do I not have that and they have this?" And so I think there's so many reasons we're just content, but that quote has always stuck with me, but he says, "There's got to be more." And this is a

guy that is on the top of his game. He has achieved everything in life. He has the super model wife everything and he says, "It's still not enough. There's something more out there." Well, when you think thinking back to Genesis 3 even, that's the first lie we believe, right? Because when Satan, Tim Sieve, he's like, "God is holding on you. There is more for you to have." And we've been believing that lie ever since. It's like, "There's more. There's more. There's more. And we just can't find it." Even Thomas Brady, where I can't find it. Well, I think it just shows that even when we look at someone like Tom Brady, who's been so successful in his career financially, even from a sports perspective of winning so many different Super Bowls, you would look at his life and think, "Man, I would bet you that that success has fulfilled him." And I think what we continue to learn in life is that, "Man, there's never going to be enough." There's never going to be enough. That when we think that our satisfaction comes from something out there rather than something in here, gosh, we can get lost. We can get lost along the He's telling us he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. And you move down a little bit more, right? And he says, as he had come naked from his mother's womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand, right? So even if we spend our life accumulating and building this huge nest egg, like if that's where our identity's coming from, like it's not gonna fulfill us. If we're trying to hit a certain number of followers, on social media, well, that ain't ever gonna fulfill us. If we're trying to impress this person or that person,

well guess what, people's minds change. People's minds change. But as we kind of land the plane on this week, Sarah, maybe for you, what would an encouraging word be for someone who's watching this right now? That if they were sitting and we had a fourth chair here with us and you're like, hey, just from my own personal study of this week, this is how I would encourage you to walk with this information and this wisdom in light of our relationship with Christ. - Yeah, I think just for me personally, I'm just reminded by all the gifts that I have been given by the Lord, you know, like even just studying all of this, like it's so easy for us, like I kind of said earlier, like to get blinded by the things I want or need, but then I forget, oh, look at all the ways God has been faithful in my life. And then I've really been kind of hit with this fact of, I've always been given what I needed, maybe not what I wanted, but he always gives us what we need. And I heard somebody on a podcast the other day talk about like, you know, if you're really struggling financially and your belly's full of rice and beans, your belly's still full. Even if that rice and beans not be like a, the top tier steak, like your belly's still full

and the Lord's still providing what you need. And that really helped me change my perspective of, it's not always what I want, but he is faithful to give me what I need. And just remembering that like the God who created us is the only one who can truly satisfy us with the things we are longing for. Like true peace, true fulfillment, true joy is found in him and not in these material things. But then like some material things are a gift from him that we get, that we don't deserve. Like I have so many things in my life that I do not deserve, but we have to remember like, he is the only one who can provide us what we need and give us the things we're longing for. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (gentle music)