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.
We work hard to earn money to buy stuff because we think we'll be happier with (fill in the blank). But we're not. And in fact, once we have enough money to buy the stuff we wanted we often don't have time to enjoy it because we're working so hard to buy some more stuff. And we also realize that the stuff didn't bring us the satisfaction we thought it would.
Not only that, but after we've worked so hard to build up all this stuff, we're just going to die and leave it all to someone who might blow it all! (And, of course, the irony is that Solomon's sons did exactly that). So what's the point? Death is the great equalizer so who cares?!
Wow, depressing stuff.
And from a purely physical standpoint, it's true. Rich and poor, wise and foolish - all die. Every single one of us.
BUT! There's actually 2 buts here.
First - the fact that we know that death is around the corner shouldn't make us want to waste our life. Rather, it should make us want to make the most out of every single day and every single moment because we don't know when it will be our last. No more thinking that tomorrow I"ll play with my kids, tomorrow I"ll read my Bible, tomorrow I'll encourage that friend, tomorrow I'll kiss my husband, tomorrow I'll enjoy good food - because there might not be a tomorrow!! If it's important - do it today!
Second - death actually is not the great equalizer at all, not from a spiritual standpoint. How we live our lives (or rather WHO we live our lives FOR) before we die is exactly what determines our lives after we die. Those who are in Christ do not even really experience death because Christ has taken away death's sting and death's victory. Our eternity starts the moment we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and death is simply the beginning of the fullness of eternity - eternity experienced without the stain of sin.
The knowledge of our impending death shouldn't be discouraging, frustrating or depressing. Rather it should cause us to recognize that God is the giver of all things. God gives us stuff. And God gives us satisfaction. It's when we look to our stuff to give us our satisfaction that things go wrong. But when we look to God for our satisfaction we are able to enjoy the stuff He has given us, because we have the right perspective. And that makes all the difference.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Ecclesiastes 2:17-26
2 comments:
As I started writing my post for today, I noticed the passage you have here is from today's scripture focus...so I wrote on the scripture focus from yesterday...(PS: I think your Bible in a year passage should be different too.)
Oops!! Good catch - thanks for noticing that! I fixed the Bible in a year passage so it's all good now. :)
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