The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
     vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil
     at which he toils under the sun?

4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
     but the earth remains forever.

5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
     and hastens to the place where it rises.

6 The wind blows to the south
     and goes around to the north;
 around and around goes the wind,
     and on its circuits the wind returns.

7 All streams run to the sea,
     but the sea is not full;
 to the place where the streams flow,
     there they flow again.

8 All things are full of weariness;
     a man cannot utter it;
 the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
     nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 What has been is what will be,
     and what has been done is what will be done,
     and there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
     “See, this is new”?
 It has been already
     in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,
     nor will there be any remembrance
 of later things yet to be
     among those who come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

THINKING ABOUT DEATH 

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

    they do not know over what they stumble.

Proverbs 4:18-19

15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 

Ecclesiastes 7:15-17

Ecclesiastes is filled with what we might call true lies. Given the perspective “God does not matter,” it is true that all is vanity. Since that perspective is wrong, it is not true that all is vanity. Yet Solomon makes us think through this wrong perspective thoroughly through Ecclesiastes.

David Guzik

The Book of Ecclesiastes is a sermon concerning the emptiness of all things without Christ. He who reads it and does not see the Cross in its conclusion has missed its true meaning.

Charles Spurgeon

Memento Mori: “remember, you will die” or “remember, you are mortal”

CD PICTURE*

Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die.

Benedict

PICTURE OF BENEDICT*

“What you are, we used to be. What we are, you will be.”

In context, Benedict was essentially saying, “Don’t waste your life on triviality. Remember what matters. Life is fleeting and precious. Don’t squander it. Keep your death before your eyes. Hold eternity in your heart.”

John Mark Comer

For the unbeliever, death is avoided for the sake of life. For the Christian, death is the lens through which we view our life and the door through which we finally enter real life.

TOMBSTONE PICTURE*

What Will YOUR Dash Be?

10 Is there a thing of which it is said,
     “See, this is new”?
 It has been already
     in the ages before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things,
     nor will there be any remembrance
 of later things[e] yet to be
     among those who come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:10-11

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

Luke 12:13-19

THINKING ABOUT DEATH SAVES US FROM THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Luke 12:20

THINKING ABOUT DEATH SAVES US FROM THE ILLUSION OF TIME

21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:21

THINKING ABOUT DEATH SAVES US FROM THE ILLUSION OF VALUE

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

C.S. Lewis

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2