“Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 ESV
The proper way to see life is through the lens of Scripture. Isn’t that gold right there? To wonder what life is all about, and to worry about what to do with ourselves is literally to be alive. The very fact that we face these questions, and that we worry about things, is evidence of our need of God. In this way, we’re hiding in the bushes, traumatized by a world that, due to sin and its consequences, scares us. In Genesis 3:8 we read about the very first admission of fear. Sin brings death, yes, but it also carries with it anxiety and fear, just like clouds carry rain and my mother-in-law drives slow. Adam and Eve feared God and they fear the world in which they were naked. Nature and others are not meant to be our enemies but sin brings conflict as well as judgment. If there is peace to be found in sin then the Bible is untrue and God is a liar. This is the core theme of Ecclesiastes…to remind us that we’re sinners saved by grace, living in a world that’s fallen, surrounded by sin, sinners, and the corollaries. To be happy and live “the good life” is therefore impossible outside of the fear of the Lord (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Proverbs 1:7). Oh, how often we forget this!
In Christ we’re no longer “naked” but clothed in the righteousness imputed to us through faith alone. The child of God no longer hides behind the fig-leafs of work, fame, busyness, distractions, and all that because the echoes of all that terror which sin wrought, of separation from God, and His holy anger, have all passed (Romans 5:1). What Ecclesiastes is showing us is that these fig-leafs are threadbare things indeed and that, yes, we’re made for so much more. We’re made for Him.
A thing we see these days is the man or woman who’s always busy. We know this because they always tell us. “I’ve been so busy…” is almost expected nowadays. Life appears to be happening to us, doesn’t it? We’re busy, busy, busy. Some of it is the fact that we must be productive. Other times, though, and Koheleth is speaking of that now, a man hides in his work. Instead of doing all things unto the Lord, he does them to hide there. His business owns him; he pays his work with the stuff of his soul and has nothing left to spend on his family and church. All is out of balance. Indeed, a life outside of Christ is an unfocused one and there never can be equilibrium. The weights of the world will never balance on the man’s scale who refuses the Lordship of Christ because only He can put our priorities in order.
We know well the folly of the lazy man or woman. That man today sits around watching porn, or wiling away his days playing video games for hours and hours. Or the woman who’s an expert in the affairs of others. She’s the gossip queen and judge of all. Neither are dedicated to a true task or craft. Both types refuse to work in real labor for the Lord. Laziness and cheap talk are empty (Ecclesiastes 5:7). But, though this is true, we often miss the flip side and that’s the person who hides in their work. They’re at the office all the time and it costs them their family. Solomon asks, “for whom am I laboring…” if I don’t have actual and true relationships with them?
The hard part of all this is that there’s no way to balance it all out here under the sun. What’s the correct equation for family time, work, leisure, etc.? The answer to that will, of course, vary with everyone…and vary even personally during the seasons of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This confusion is unnecessary because need isn’t mystery. Balance in life is a need that brings us to wondrous prayer due to our recognition that we don’t actually control everything. Naturally, this realization is hardly seen as a blessing. But it is indeed. In Christ we know that our chief goal in life is to know Him in faith and to bear fruit through progressively holy living. This fruit bearing (otherwise known as sanctification) will look differently for everyone, yes, but the principle is the same. We don’t save ourselves through work, but our work will show the reality of our salvation due to it being an outgrowth of our love for and service of Christ. Our enjoyment in work and family is a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 2:25, 3:22) but for others outside of faith there’s never real joy (Ecclesiastes 2:26).
If our work takes our all, rather than Christ, we’ll wear ourselves to the proverbial frazzle and never be happy. We may gain much wealth but never be joyous in it. We’ll be like a man with an incredible home who’s always traveling. Contentment is in faith alone because only Christ gives us the keys to that house. Doug Wilson wrote of a man whom God might give hundreds of cans of peaches but no can opener. Trying to vindicate ourselves through our own powers, on our own terms, through work, or family, or fame, or pleasure, or whatever, is always a fool’s errand. Balance in life is in Christ alone. Trying to find simplicity of living outside of Him is like joining the band playing on the deck of the Titanic. Yes, the music may be beautiful, but the ship is sinking.
Recent Comments