Chasing the Sun

I've been thinking lately about how many things in this life amount to nothing. Ecclesiastes 1:14 says,

"I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

This was true thousands of years ago when these words were written, and it remains true today. Everything of this world is meaningless, perishing, except the three things eternal: God, His word, and the souls of men. Everything else fades, breaks or burns. So why do we spend so much time investing in these things?

Chasing the wind. An interesting concept. It is used nine times throughout the first half of Ecclesiastes. I try to imagine what that looks like: futile, silly. A man running in circles, trying to catch something more elusive than a wild animal. You can't catch the wind, you can't keep it.

The Lord also showed me an image of this same concept on my way to Washington state this last December. I was flying west at sunset and it was gorgeous. Words could never do justice to its beauty. It was a special sunset for two reasons. First, I had a unique perspective watching it from the sky instead of the ground. Truly, it felt heavenly watching it over a bed of clouds. And second, it was the longest sunset I've ever witnessed, because as we flew west, we followed its path, prolonging its setting. But you can't outrun the sun, you cannot catch it.

Though chasing the sun was lovely, it was futile. Just another reminder that in this life we should never compromise the significant, the sacred, for the lovely. After all, beauty is fleeting (Proverbs 31:30), just like the sun.

God created all things lovely and admirable, because He is a God who values beauty. Being made in His image, so do we. I sure do; it's one of my top values. I love all things beautiful, creative, lovely, anything that moves me to awe.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul expresses a warning we all should heed:

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

Romans 1:25

He goes on to write that because of this, God handed these men over to their "shameful lusts." No matter how beautiful, we should always give our praise and glory to the Creator, not the created, because a creation is only as lovely as its Creator.

So on my journey west, we chased the sun on top of the clouds for at least an hour. But it was meaningless, because we never caught up, and that beautiful sun eventually gave way to darkness.