Duty of Man

Ecclesiastes {12:8} Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity.

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Vanity-

1. The quality or condition of being vain.
2. Excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments; conceit. See synonyms at conceit.
3. Lack of usefulness, worth, or effect; worthlessness.

vain-

1. Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless: a vain attempt.
2. Lacking substance or worth: vain talk.
3. Excessively proud of one's appearance or accomplishments; conceited.
4. Archaic. Foolish.


Vanity of vanities-

Uselessness of the useless?
Conceitedness of the conceited?
Worthlessness of the worthless?
Foolishness of the foolish?

All is vanity-

All is useless, conceited, worthless, foolish?

Even though all is foolishness, the preacher was wise. He taught knowledge, he listened and sought many proverbs putting them in order.

{12:9} And moreover, because the preacher was
wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave
good heed, and sought out, [and] set in order many
proverbs.

The preacher looked for acceptable words, good words of truth.

{12:10} The preacher sought to find out
acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was]
upright, [even] words of truth.

The words of the wise are tools of a master, given from one who cares for His flock.

{12:11} The words of the
wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of
assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.

By those tools, those words be admonished- you could write forever, study for ever, and grow weary of it all being consumed by everything.

{12:12}
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making
many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a
weariness of the flesh.

What's the end of the entire matter? What is most important of all the words, all the studying?

{12:13} Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter...

Give reverence and respect to God and keep His commandments, this is the entire duty of man.

{12:13}Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the
whole [duty] of man.

Everything we do, EVERYTHING we do good or evil will be judged.

{12:14} For God shall bring every
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be]
good, or whether [it be] evil.

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Talk all you want, study all you want, write all you want, in the end what matters is our duty to God. The duty that Jesus gave us as an example of His life.

No, we can't all be apostles, or teachers, or prophets etc. We can't all be preachers. People are needed for a lot of things. There are shepherds for sheep, farmers for the crops, basic jobs that are timeless even if technology as advanced many of their jobs. All sorts of jobs are needed for people to survive- needed back in Jesus' day, needed in our day. We can't all shun labor and simply study, life doesn't work that way for most of us, not that it isn't the right thing for some people, just not all the people. We can't assume our walk with God isn't strong and good, just because we're not monks, or nuns, or missionaries, preachers, pastors, etc. Yes, Jesus called laborers from their work- tax collector, fishermen, and down the line physicians, tentmakers and such. He told people to follow Him and this was good. He was God with us and His time on earth needed to be seen and memorized by many to bear witness of Him and His life.

Jesus didn't come to do away with God's commandments. He came to show they could be kept, His life bore testament to the commandments and to the duty of man. Reverence to His Father, and the keeping of His Father's commandments, which are just and good and born of love.

In all we do, no matter what our walk in life, a hated job we drudge through day after day, a life of misery born of emotional strain, it doesn't matter what we do but while we do whatever task life has for us we have to Fear God and keep His commandments. Everything we do will be judged. EVERYTHING. You can't hide a single thought from God. Not a single action is hidden from Him. Our hearts, our lives are open to Him.

May God bless us all as we live day to day. May we all holdfast to our duty as human beings, the duty we have to give reverence to God and to keep His commandments, which are summed up in loving Him and loving our fellow man, which are selfless. In a world where we are taught to look out for number one, to look our just for ourselves as if what we desired and want matter more than anything else, help us God, help us to see past the trap of selfishness, of self-focus and to You and others as Your commands to us are.

Thy will God, Thy will, not our will... be done by the grace and mercy of Jesus.

Amen.