Eating the Wind

So school has started again, and as I'm realizing that I'm getting closer and closer to graduation, I find it interesting I'm hearing so many messages from many different sources that seem to be saying the same thing:

Spending your life in pursuit of pleasure and wealth ends in emptiness and discontent. Follow God's lead, and you will discover everything you were made for.

Forgive me if this post isn't especially well-written or doesn't make much sense (I didn't fall asleep until sometime after 3 a.m. last night, so my thoughts are sketchy at best), but since I'm sure others have wondered about their life's purpose, I felt like I should go ahead and try to write it out and revise it later, if necessary :).

As I was reading Ecclesiastes chapter 2 this morning, I happened to look down at one of the alternate translation notes. It was actually referring to Ecclesiastes 1:14, which reads, "I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." (ESV Study Bible)

The note suggested an alternate translation to "striving after wind," which was "feeding on wind."

Both translations are great. The first properly conveys the futility of grasping after something that simply cannot be grasped, but to me, the second one presents a different but still meaningful illustration.

As a child (or adult...), did you ever open your mouth and try to "eat the wind" as a strong gust rushed past you? It was maybe a little exhilarating, and I remember thinking I was somehow "getting MORE air!" because there seemed to be so much, and I was inhaling it more fully and even eating it (I wasn't a dumb kid--I just had an active imagination :). In the end, of course, the air that was rushing past me was same amount of air that was always around me, but it felt different--like I was getting more, somehow.

In the same way, chasing after fame, wealth, and pleasure seem like the best way to receive more out of life, but in the end, no matter how much you amass, these things are empty and do not sustain. It's like attempting to gulp down that huge gust of wind--it feels like you're getting more and you'll be better for it, but it's only an exhilarating feeling. In the end, you find you haven't truly gained anything.

Is it worthwhile to spend your life chasing after a temporary exhilaration that does not fulfill, rather than the breathless excitement from following what God has made you for?

P.S. Once again, Ben Stuart has an awesome podcast on this exact topic called "Whose Kingdom Come?" Look up Breakaway Ministries on iTunes and have a listen! :)