{"id":870,"date":"2008-11-03T12:01:35","date_gmt":"2008-11-03T12:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:44:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:44:46","slug":"ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiastes 2 – Joy in Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – Who hasn’t, at some time or another, thought that just a little more income or even just a one time windfall, would make our lives so much better. I know I do.
\nSolomon had the luxury few of us will experience, the financial ability to run after whatever his heart desired. There was no “If only …”, he had the means to do whatever he wanted, and he did. In the end he found that it “all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun<\/em>“.
\nEcclesiastes 2:13 – “there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness<\/em>” Not all the meaningless toil is equally meaningless.<\/p>\n

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:17<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’ve felt this way sometimes. What good is life, all that I value and strive for, all that is important to me will be gone and unremembered not long after I’m gone. What’s the point?
\nActually, verse 18 captures more of how I’ve felt: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun”. But Solomon hated it because fo what would become of it, I just hate to work. If it’s all just going to decay and break, why bother? Why not just sit on the couch?
\nBut I’ve learned that there is joy and contentment in work, which, honestly, ticks me off. Case in point, yesterday I was faced with projects to get done and I really just wanted to relax. Our disposal had sprung a leak, the patio furniture needed to be put away and the last lawn treatment needed done. The others could be (somewhat) safely postponed, but an unusable kitchen sink wasn’t going to fly, so i got to work. I diagnosed the problem, went to Home Depot and got the new one, installed it and replaced the dripping faucet flex line. I also picked up some weatherstripping for our entry door and got that replaced. I took advantage of the warm evening and got up on the roof to put up the Christmas lights (don’t worry, they won’t get turned on until Thanksgiving).
\nI never got to the patio funiture or the lawn treatment, but today I awoke refreshed adn content in a way that I normally do not. God has made us to work, and in that work, even as temporary as it may be, we find contentment and fulfillment. It ticks me off because my way is different. I want to lounge, to indulge, to be lazy. It’s a lie and a seduction, however, because he call of relaxation instead produces anxiety. The restlessness that comes from living outside of God’s purpose. God is at work and he created us to be at work as well.
\nSolomon realized this as well:<\/p>\n

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God …<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 2:24<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The joy is in the act of working, not in the results of the work. Like so much in the world, it’s backward from our understanding. We work for the end result, He works for the joy in working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – Who hasn’t, at some time or another, thought that just a little more income or even just a one time windfall, would make our lives so muchRead More Ecclesiastes 2 – Joy in Work<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEcclesiastes 2 - Joy in Work - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ecclesiastes 2 - Joy in Work - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – Who hasn’t, at some time or another, thought that just a little more income or even just a one time windfall, would make our lives so muchRead More Ecclesiastes 2 – Joy in Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-11-03T12:01:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-29T02:44:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@salguod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml\",\"name\":\"Ecclesiastes 2 - 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And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":885,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/12\/ecclesiastes_5_-_fear_god_the_vanity_of_wealth.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":870,"position":1},"title":"Ecclesiastes 5 – Fear God, the Vanity of Wealth","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"December 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 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