Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 says,...
Today's verses are Eccesiastes 2:18-26, which read,
v.18,19 - Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.
This section has broken up into quarters by the phrase "this too is vanity." Solomon is speaking of his labor which I could take to be not just physical labor of something done with his hands but also spiritual labor of something done in reference to following the wisdom and instruction of God. We leave things behind and when we leave we also have the absence of our voice and thoughts concerning the direction in which things go.
Maybe a good example is the lack of control we have when our children become adults and they start making decisions on their own and they are not what you would have made. There is a death to a time when you would have directed that step. I have went through this process with the churches I have served. I have put my heart and soul into those places and people but when called to go to another place and people I had to leave it in the hands of another and sometimes things didn't proceed like I was doing it.
v.20, 21 - Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.
Solomon is saying, "What's the use if I put all this God-honoring effort into this and then someone comes along and rips it all down?" The temptation is to start doing nothing at all. Another temptation is to do only what is necessary and pertains to you. It would be a way to cope with the disappointment of spiritual progress seeming to go bad because no one picked up the ball when you were not there or they threw the ball away. It is hard to keep serving when the possibility lingers that your legacy, what you left behind, is not doing what it was suppose to do.
Solomon does call this a great evil also. God's wisdom, knowledge and skill are to be duplicated from one generation to the next and when they are not we see what is happening in our own country. We have left behind foundational Biblical moral structures for new ones that allow great evil to abound that would have been checked by His Word. In a sense there has been a death of our Christian nation because we have taken our focus off of Christ and onto our selves.
v.22, 23 - For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? Because all his days his task in painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.
Work is hard. Service is hard. It takes time. It takes much thought. Sometimes that work and thought goes into the night. Solomon is looking for some type of kickback for this time and effort. He doesn't see it at the moment and so his conclusion again that it is vanity to put in the effort. It is a natural conclusion if you don't look larger than yourself. The temptation is to stop or to disengage because your personal needs or gratification have not been satisfied.
v.24-26 - There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, which to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Solomon continues his thoughts thinking bigger than himself and starts to focus on God. He has seen that work is good. There is nothing better than for a man to work for what he eats and drinks. We need to work and work has come from God. God, in His sovereignty, has given us work to accomplish like He gave Adam and Eve in the garden to tend it.
Our true eating and enjoyment come when we follow after God who has given us the ability to work. The phrase "without Him" literally means "outside of Him." If we are to have true fulfillment God needs to be in the picture rather God is painting the picture of your life with you referring or living in accordance to what He is painting. If you are not (which Solomon calls a sinner here) then what you are doing is vanity. You will see it being given to others and you will despise the work that is in front of you.
We all have work to do but how do you view it? Is it for yourself or is it an expression of your love for God who gave you the work to do? Is the end goal how it makes you feel or what you get out of it or is the end goal another opportunity to bring glory to God even if you don't feel so great or you didn't get an immediate kickback? What fuels you to work? If it is not with God in view then it will be vanity. It will cause you to do less and only what gratifies you.
I will leave you with a point made in our overseer meeting on a sheet we were going through titled "10 More Signs that a Church Has Settled for Mediocrity" by Chuck Lawless. Point number 9 said, "Excellence is apparently not the goal. Whether it's the preaching, the music, the facility, the programs, or whatever the church is doing, members seem to think they can do less than their best for the glory of God."
Let us pray.
"Lord, help us to view our work, given to us by You and for our good, with new eyes today. We need to work and do our service in a way that glorifies You always. May we see the flags of selfishness and self gratification. You are painting the picture of our lives so help us to gaze on what You are doing rather than picking up the brush and painting our own picture that will be eventually thrown in the trash. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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