Ecclesiastes 5:18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. 19 Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. 20 For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
Today, many are under the mistaken impression that only pastors and missionaries are involved in meaningful Christian jobs. Notice what Solomon says here: all labor… which God has given… is our portion. For the believer all of our work is from God and is Christian labor.
God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule… And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it and … rule over every living thing that moves on the earth, Genesis 1:26-28
After creating everything God rests: And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day… Genesis 2:2 But notice;
He leaves the world untamed and unrestrained, and creates just a single garden sanctuary. Then he fashions one last kind of creature – a creature suitable to continue his work, suitable to function as his creative viceroy, suitable to expand his rule across the globe. As God worked in the first week, so Adam will take over from him in the second. Michael Foster, It’s Good To Be A Man, Canonpress
We must understand that the labor that God has given to us is tied to our joy. In fact the New Testament explains that if a man will not work, he will not eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 Because God goes to great lengths throughout the Scriptures to show how sloth destroys both lives and societies, Proverbs 18:9, we are not to be parasites living off the labor of others. And as we are obedient we find that the fruit of our labors dispels anxiety and brings joy – this is the gift of God.
Vocations are “masks of God.” On the surface, we see an ordinary human face, our mother, the doctor, the teacher, the waitress, our pastor, but, beneath the appearances, God is ministering to us through them. God is hidden in human vocations. The other side of the coin is that God is hidden in us. When we live out our callings as spouses, parents, children, employers, employees, citizens, and the rest, God is working through us. Even when we do not realize it, when we fulfill our callings, we too are masks of God. Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work
The Lord…has appointed to all their particular duties in different spheres of life. And that no one might rashly transgress the limits prescribed, he has styled such spheres of life vocations or callings. Every individual’s line of life, therefore, is, as it were, a post assigned him by the Lord, that he may not wander about in uncertainty all his days. And so necessary is this distinction, that in his sight all our actions are estimated according to it, and often very differently from the sentence of human reason… There will be no employment so mean and sordid (provided we follow our vocation) as not to appear truly respectable, and be deemed highly important in the sight of God. John Calvin, Institutes, III, x, vi
Do you see your work as a gift from God and rejoice in your labor, giving a full day’s labor for a full day’s pay?
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-25
To labor for the Lord is the gift of God. For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
Next, Solomon compares the one living under heaven, who is able to eat and drink and enjoy good in all his labor… all the days of his life which God has given him, with the one living selfishly under the sun, without any regard for the things of God.
Ecclesiastes 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: 2 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
There are men who have everything their hearts desire – riches, wealth, and honor but are unable to find joy.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say that a stillborn child is better than he: 4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. 6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place? 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. 10 Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he. 11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man? 12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
There are men who may be blessed with a hundred children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and live long lives, yet fail to enjoy the good. They may be overcome with anxiety, or meaninglessness, or as Anton Chekhov writes, the inevitability of death.
I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage. You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off the face of the earth as though you were no more than mice burrowing under the floor, and your posterity, your history, your immortal geniuses will burn or freeze together with the earthly globe. Anton Chekhov, The Bet, Project Gutenberg