What is the Value of Work .
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
18 Then I hated all my labour in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labour in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labour in which I had toiled under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not laboured for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what has man for all his labour, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labour. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
26 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.
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Solomon goes on to think about all the effort put into physical labour.
17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
People have different opinions of work. Some people love it, other see it as a means to an end. Some find pleasure in work, where others find work boring and the fact that it interferes with pleasure.
Those that are happy in their work find it meaningful and a good use of their time. Others hate their work but have no choice because if one doesn’t work, one doesn’t eat.
I have known men to spend more effort to avoid work than they would use if they did work.
Maybe a part time job would work but then the pay is not sufficient for their needs.
If one has a good well paying job and they can live well and afford to save, that sounds good.
However, is there a point in investment and storing up wealth?
It appears that whatever we do, it brings with it problems.
Ecc 2: 18 Then I hated all my labour in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labour in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun.
This also is vanity.
The Preacher thinks, is it really worth it? What is the end of it all?
because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?
I don’t know about you but I have thought like this in my life.
I have said to my wife. “We have worked all our lives and been very careful with our finances, we have not been wasters, we have spent a bit and saved a bit. We have enjoyed the fruit of our labour.
Yet I can’t help thinking that when we die, our children and grandchildren will inherit all that we have worked for and very likely blow it on holidays and other unnecessary things.
19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labour in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
I console myself by saying, well! I won’t be here to see it, for I know it would grieve me. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to waste it all myself and I couldn’t just spend it for the sake of it.
I hate this kind of thinking and so did Solomon. Ecclesiastes 2:17. The thought of leaving the produce of your work can be troublesome. I think of all the hard times we have gone through, trying to keep up mortgage payments, the sleepless nights when threatened with redundancy etc and all for what, to leave it to someone else.
It could be said that Solomon wasn’t the wisest of men when it came to his wealth. When you consider he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. That would take quite a chunk out of your finances.
However, according to what we read, it doesn’t seem that it was a problem to him.
After all this, he left one son to inherit, Rehoboam and he turned out to be the fool Solomon dreaded.
We can read about him in 1 Kings 14:21-31.
If death is the end of existence, what a depressing thought. If this life is all there is, then all our efforts, our work, really would seem meaningless.
It is more understandable when it is acquired wealth by inheritance. Maybe it would be easier to see it passed on. After all it wasn’t you that earned it.
But when you have worked hard for all that you have and still it will be inherited by someone that didn’t work for it and even more would not appreciate it, I suppose it is more difficult to think about.
20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labour in which I had toiled under the sun.
21 For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not laboured for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
None of the things that man acquires, or the projects he completes, has any merit in eternity. We may feel proud at our achievements and get some satisfaction in the moment but it is a known fact, that none of that follows us after our death.
The truth of the matter is, that the only treasures we carry with us, are those we have stored in heaven before our death. Things we do for ourselves, or for earthly fame, will be of no assistance in heaven. Solomon had great wealth and fame on the earth. All of that is left behind.
22 For what has man for all his labour, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
We all can identify with Solomon here in that our worldly troubles, very often robs us of sleep.
I can’t remember the times I have lay awake over the years about problems at work, or worrying whether I would even have a job to go to.
We read in the book of Job that our life is but a short time in comparison to eternity and it is filled with worry and trouble.
Job 14:1 "Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble."
In the New Testament, Jesus explains that this world is full of trouble and that our only hope is in Him.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
How then, with all that we know, can one live life, “under the sun”, this side of eternity, in peace and have meaning to our life?
Ecc 2: 24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labour. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
We can do this if we recognise that all that we are and all that we have comes from God.
We should be thankful for whatever God has provided us with.
One of my favourite sayings can be found in God’s word. When addressing the question of what is happiness.
We should be like Paul and be satisfied with what God has given us.
1 Timothy 6:8 "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
Learning to be content in whatever state we find ourselves in.
“Nothing is better”: Even with the limitations of this present life, humanity should rejoice in its temporal goodness. “From the hand of God”: Solomon’s strong view of God’s sovereignty brings comfort after an honest critique of what life in a cursed world entails.
There are many who come to this conclusion, even unbelievers who see this life as all there is can get through life appreciating the simple pleasures of life. Appreciating nature and the Arts, having fun where possible, being nice to others, being fair and not doing wrong.
At least this helps in coping with life under the sun.
However, it gives no real meaning to life in light of eternity.
To find true meaning in life is to recognise that this life is not all there is but that there is a loving God, who enters providentially into the lives of men and gives them a meaning which is above the sun.
26 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.
Death does defeat all life’s accomplishments “under the sun”. For to the natural man who is dead in sin, it is a case of gathering and collecting, which is vanity and grasping after the wind.
But, to the spiritual man, who sees the hand of God in all things, death is not the end and life “under the sun” is a preparation for things eternal.
