A person can do nothing better than to . . . find satisfaction in their own toil. Ecclesiastes 2:24
I used to dread Mondays. Sometimes, when I got off the train to head to a previous job, I’d sit at the station for a while, trying to delay reaching the building, if only for a few minutes. My heart would beat fast as I worried over meeting the deadlines and managing the moods of a temperamental boss.
For some of us, it can be especially difficult to start another dreary workweek. We may be feeling overwhelmed or underappreciated in our job. King Solomon described the toil of work when he wrote: “What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain” (Ecclesiastes 2:22–23).
While the wise king didn’t give us a cure-all for making work less stressful or more rewarding, he did offer us a change in perspective. No matter how difficult our work is, he encourages us to “find satisfaction” in it with God’s help (v. 24). Perhaps it will come as the Holy Spirit enables us to display Christlike character. Or as we hear from someone who’s been blessed through our service. Or as we remember the wisdom God provided to deal with a difficult situation. Though our work may be difficult, our faithful God is there with us. His presence and power can light up even gloomy days. With His help, we can be thankful for Monday.
Read: Ecclesiastes 2:17-25 (NIV)
Toil 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.t 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.u 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?v Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil 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 person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?w 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;x even at night their minds do not rest.y This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drinkz and find satisfaction in their own toil.a This too, I see, is from the hand of God,b 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?c
INSIGHT
- What gives you the Monday blues?
- How will you lean on God’s help to find satisfaction in your work today?
Ecclesiastes has been described as “perhaps the most perplexing and confusing book of the Bible to the average reader” (The New Unger’s Bible Handbook), but it also includes musings and lessons that help us to sharpen our perspective as to what really matters in life. The phrase under the sun is used nearly thirty times and describes life in an imperfect, complex world in which life’s anomalies are many. Another repeated word is meaningless (or vanity), which is used more than thirty-five times. This term expresses frustration. At the same time, this Wisdom book encourages perspective beyond the horizontal plane of our limited vision and helps us to see that the best posture for earth-dwellers is to “fear God and keep his commandments” (12:13).
PRAYER
Faithful God, help me to see the good You’re enabling me to accomplish through my work today! In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Ecclesiastes 2:17-25 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40-42; Hebrews 4
