I am truly thankful that there are days, (many in fact but not all), that I enjoy my work. I feel blessed that God has provided it for me.
Ecclesiastes 2 is saturated with Solomon speaking of vanity. The opening, closing and middle verses touch on the subject. In reading chapter two you can see that Solomon lived a good portion of his life, as the old hymn said, living "years spent in vanity and pride", where all he cared about was himself and seeking pleasure. He built, bought and gathered for himself. But without God, he found that all of this seeking, finding and acquiring to be empty.
Solomon has a strong view of God's sovereignty and shows thanks to God for bringing the correct perspective back to his life.
What is at the core of our work our toil? Is it to accumulate things or are we striving to please Him? It is the pathway of blessing. Verse 25 points out that we will not truly enjoy life "apart from Him".
All achievements, all possessions
All with time return to dust
Only God can be our reason
For deep and quiet trust
He will guard us from the dangers
That gladly make men fools
Apart from Him and all His meaning
All things fail as they begin
And hearts deceived
Can only know
A chasing of the wind (from A Chasing of the Wind - Steve Green)
Blessings,
Mike
Follow the verse of the day at www.mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Ecclesiastes 2:22-25 Amplified Bible (AMP)
22 For what has a man left from all his labor and from the striving and vexation of his heart in which he has toiled under the sun?
23 For all his days are but pain and sorrow, and his work is a vexation and grief; his mind takes no rest even at night. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!
24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat or who can have enjoyment any more than I can—[apart from Him?
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