Chasing After the Wind

I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

A recurring phrase used by Solomon is “a chasing after the wind.” The phrase describes the futility of the effort. No matter how much or how fast or how long you chase the wind, you never catch it. You never get anything out of chasing the wind, other than tired, worn out, and defeated. As far as being caught, the wind is undefeated. Solomon looked at his wisdom, and even that he concluded was chasing after the wind. With his wisdom he analyzed pleasure, achievement, work, oppression, achievements, relationships, politics, false worship, wealth, materialism, prosperity, defiance, wickedness, injustice, and strength, and found them all falling short of providing meaning to one’s life – they were all chasing after the wind. What then is the meaning of life? What purpose is man here for? These questions have been asked since man was created. Many have sought it, few have found it, but it is available to everyone