Ecclesiastes 2:1 (part of our reading plan today) I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.
Solomon was searching. Searching for lasting satisfaction but pursuing it in all the wrong places. He became like a new freshman on a college campus, trying out everything. He became the ultimate party animal. He tried comedy (v2) and the bar scene (v3). He poured his energy into architecture (v4) and horticulture(v5) and forestry(v6). He began accumulating possessions, in a quest for a paradise on earth? He was the “top dog.” (v9)
Along with possessions came power and pride. This kind of pleasure-hunt did not satisfy. It always promises more than it produces. Although Solomon gained popularity, he realized that all his searching was just “striving after the wind.” It was futile.
Our ultimate happiness cannot come from trying to have fun or from trying to create some type of environment that pleases us– true satisfaction can only be found in God. He is our True Treasure.
In Hebrews 11:24-25 we see the example of Moses: “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
Pleasure is the measure of our treasure. (Jon Bloom at Desiring God)
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 