Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
Tag: Work is Still WORK
In the culture of the United States, work (occupations) have become our god(s). We worship our work, jobs, occupations. The type of work we do gives us status. The amount of hours we put into our work gives us prestige. The amount of “stuff” we can accumulate as a result of our work pay is the “kingdom” we are building and/or ruling. We “worth-ship” our jobs.
In the above text, the wisdom of Solomon comes out. He gives us the truth about work. No matter how much we say we enjoy it and find our “purpose” in our work, it is still only a “vexation.” Our better English would be, “grief.” Work is grief. It is “work.”
The issue we have today, at lease in our U.S. society, is that we tend to make work our life purpose. We have gurus telling us we should meaning at work. That work should not be a “job” - rather it should be a mission. We often hear comments about how much time we spend at work and with our co-workers. The latest thought is that we ought not to strive for a work-life balance, because work is also our life ... if not most of our life. Yet, Solomon puts the current philosophy on its head. Work is full of sorrow and grief as a result of work. Why is this so? Solomon does not address this in his statement above, but the conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes does: We are to glorify work by using it to glorify God and build His Kingdom, not our own. Remember, in Genesis 1-3 God ordained work and put man in the Garden of Eden to do work. It was to give man great pleasure. But, in the Fall of Man, the punishment was that work would be grievous. This is why man keeps trying to find meaning and fulfillment in work. It WAS SUPPOSED to be like that. In man’s heart there is still that DNA desire for work to be great. But, in truth, God’s punishment for sin is that we will never find our fulfillment in work and it was impacted by sin to be grieving for us. It is only after we come to Christ can that be restored. Until then, work is work.
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