Passage Read: Ecclesiastes 3-6
Meditation Verses: 4:4-6
Thought
There is so much in here about contentment, whether you really understand all that God is doing or have no clue. Even if someone doesn't believe in God and eternal life, why do they bother to work and work and work to gather wealth if they never take time to enjoy the fruit of their labor? What's the point? Better to regularly take time to enjoy what you have than to spend your years laboring for wealth and never stop to enjoy rest or the reward of your wealth! Young people are starting to understand that, but without an understanding of God, so it becomes the ultimate in self indulgence. That's not what Solomon was promoting here, but it's a logical conclusion to this thinking, in a godless context. Solomon included God in his calculation, which made family a key component to enjoying our days here. If he understood eternity, he would have had a different conclusion.
Application
Gathering wealth out of jealousy is meaningless. The opposite, laziness, is foolish. Best is having one handful of labor and one handful of peace and enjoyment. Better still is knowing that these days are the only days I have to store up for eternity, so if I err on any side, it should be spending too much time laying up treasure in heaven. In heaven, I'll have plenty of time to rest and relax and enjoy God's creation, and whatever work there is to do will not be burdensome. If I want to compete with someone over storing up wealth, it should be eternal treasure. I should work at serving God and obeying Him more than anyone else!