Pleasureless Pursuits
"For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:26 NKJV http://bible.com/114/ecc.2.26.nkjv A purposeless pursuit does not necessarily result in a want of material profits or an absence of worldly enrichment. In fact, the Preacher's experience confirms the possibility of an abundance of enjoyment and provision of worldly amusement, which may be freely at the possessor's beck and call. However, these enrichments bring little satisfaction or no fulfilling pleasure to the soul, because a purposeless pursuit is primarily concerned about self-satisfaction. Although the work of gathering and collecting the benefits of life appears to favour certain privileged men, the same men are less favoured with satisfaction without a commensurate commitment to the expected spi...