Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
Work Is Meaningless
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
When one looks back a thousand years ago, is our toil and work meaningful?...
Solomon when writing the Proverbs teaches about wisdom and has wise quotes that we can learn about life...Proverbs gives practical advice about life...When he wrote Ecclesiastes, he seems to take the opposing argument of Proverbs...Ecclesiastes is far from practical advice...Knowledge, wisdom, our work, our skills are all meaningless, now in Ecclesiastes...Work can be exhausting, tiresome, stressful, and Solomon tells us we even wake up at night, with our mind on work and then we cannot rest...If you work hard, toil all your life, have a large estate, then you leave it to someone who comes after you and has not worked for it...Yet, it was your toilsome labor under the hot sun that made this possible for the next one, who has not worked for it...Solomon does give us things to think about in both books, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes...
When we step back from this and look at life, we better enjoy the little things in life...When we eat and drink, let us be merry...Let us find satisfaction in our work...This world and what we do toil and live for, can wind up being meaningless...Only from the hand of God can we eat and find any enjoyment at all...To the man who pleases God, He can give wisdom, knowledge, and happiness...But to the sinner, he gives the task of gathering and storing wealth, just to pass it on to the next one who pleases God...
When I first read Ecclesiastes, I thought Solomon was having a bad day, a bad week when he wrote Ecclesiastes...He does teach us that on this earth, under the sun things at times seem meaningless...We are on earth for several year, if God is willing, and then we die...This goes by in a blink...The happier, we are the time(s) seem to go by even faster...But the hand of God is there, willing to give us knowledge, wisdom and happiness...Happiness is not mentioned that often in the Bible, and to be mentioned here (by Solomon), to me was interesting...God gives us all things, and it seems as if Solomon even thinks this is unfair, favoring some over others, by giving this passed on wealth, to someone who pleased Him...
Ecclesiastes made more sense to me after reading about the teachings of Jesus and His views on worldly treasures and pleasures...Our treasure is where our heart is...If we spend all of our time on earth, just thinking about earthly treasures and please life in the end will be meaningless...We at sometime in our lives seek God, for meaning and purpose...Worldly treasures are transitory, but to hope in God, to trust in the LORD, to have faith lasts forever, an eternity...