Once again I was reading from Ecclesiastes. Two things struck me this time: 1) Solomon's understanding of life after death (or not); 2) How we take part of a verse in the Bible and often quote it while ignoring the second part of that same verse (or verses surrounding it).
Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 "Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-- all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."
Solomon seems to indicate that you may as well give life your best shot - while you are living - because that's all there is. After you are gone, you ain't gonna be doin' nothin'. Of course we know from the rest of Scripture that life on this earth is not the end. As a matter of fact, it is really only the beginning. Certainly what we do on earth affects our life after.
It is interesting to me that we often quote, or hear quoted, the first part of verse 10. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,..." A good quote to encourage those who may have a tendency toward laziness. However, the reason that he gives, which is the second part of the verse (which we don't quote, and likely didn't even realize existed) is because there is no more to our existence than life on this earth.
With this rationale, are we inclined to worship our work rather than the One who invites us to work and looks forward to spending eternity with us?
1 comment:
I have wondered where in his life journey some of his writings come from. He obviously had a "crisis of faith" that his heart didn't survive. I've also wondered where this lack of eternal perspective finds its home in scripture. That's another topic. At any rate, there is a reference to working heartily that my mother quoted often. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (only she quoted it in KJV). In the next verse, we find an eternal perspective on work; "since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Col. 3:23, 24) Doing it for the Lord kind of robs work of any exaltation beyond its rightful place.
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