Too often, work in this world is looked at as a drudge of labor. Many dread going to work. It seems that some jobs aren’t as glorious as others. We often want to be in a better job, better hours, or a closer job to home. Whatever the case, many find work as a painful reminder of life under the sun. We often fail to find the joy in what we “must” do. Is work just confined to a job? Many have work to do that they aren’t getting paid for, repairing the deck, mending a fence, and replacing the blades on a lawn mower. The dictionary defines work as “activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.”
We can accurately assume that work involves both pay and non-pay. Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” What a profound question, that in truth, we know the answer to.
First, our labor is good and a gift from God. Eating and drinking are the basics of life on Earth. And drinking here isn’t a proof text for alcohol consumption. The reason I say this is because our culture uses the phrase “drinking” as one who consumes alcohol. In fact, if taken out of context, this passage might seem to assume a life of mere pleasure seeking. Solomon is clearly speaking to everyday people in everyday circumstances.
I often think of Genesis 2:15, before the fall, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Working isn’t just a job you earn income from. Working is moving dirt, nailing boards, trimming trees, and maintaining what God has given you. A garden, a flower bed, trees, and building things. It’s a good thing to work.
Second, Solomon addresses the fact that we are able to enjoy this is from the hand of God. He is the one that gives you the joy to work, create, and fix things. I suppose that fixing a tire or water heater isn’t the most fun, but God has given you the ability and skill to do so. I know labor for necessities isn’t our greatest joy. We work for income to make ends meet for our families. We work to provide the necessities of life, of which God ultimately provides. Chaining a tire isn’t my greatest joy. But when I see that God gives me the ability to do so, I do find joy in that. How? Because it is from the hand of God.
Third, who can have enjoyment without Him? How is that possible? How can men find joy in the midst of suffering or trials? How can we find joy in our labor for income that may not be easy but hard? It is from God. No matter the weight of our trouble here, the hope we rest in is future and eternal. While we live under the sun with all its trouble, our joy is in the fact that God has given us ability to work. Let us rejoice in that.