7/29/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Our Old Testament passage this week speaks to a frustration common to many of us. Ecclesiastes 2:18-21 sums it up. We work hard for gain and someone else will eventually receive those gains. We can’t know if the work we have done will endure in any positive way. So we ask what the point of labor is? Is it all worthless?
This struggle is central to many of the fears of those I speak with. It’s hard to provide for your family. Your income is already spent before payday, once you count taxes, rent, utilities, and other basic necessities. You don’t know who will waste your money and effort most effectively, but you are pretty sure you would rather keep what you gained and waste it yourself.
What conclusion does the author of Ecclesiastes reach? It is shrouded a bit. But in Ecclesiastes 2:24, along with other places, he concludes that the work of our life is a good thing, provided by God, and has a purpose to it. We learn to enjoy God and the things He gives us to do regardless of what will happen to some or all of the fruits of our labor. We find that the Lord has given us a role in caring for the world. This, in itself, is fulfilling. May the Lord grant us the same wisdom to trust in Him.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Our Old Testament passage this week speaks to a frustration common to many of us. Ecclesiastes 2:18-21 sums it up. We work hard for gain and someone else will eventually receive those gains. We can’t know if the work we have done will endure in any positive way. So we ask what the point of labor is? Is it all worthless?
This struggle is central to many of the fears of those I speak with. It’s hard to provide for your family. Your income is already spent before payday, once you count taxes, rent, utilities, and other basic necessities. You don’t know who will waste your money and effort most effectively, but you are pretty sure you would rather keep what you gained and waste it yourself.
What conclusion does the author of Ecclesiastes reach? It is shrouded a bit. But in Ecclesiastes 2:24, along with other places, he concludes that the work of our life is a good thing, provided by God, and has a purpose to it. We learn to enjoy God and the things He gives us to do regardless of what will happen to some or all of the fruits of our labor. We find that the Lord has given us a role in caring for the world. This, in itself, is fulfilling. May the Lord grant us the same wisdom to trust in Him.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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