It is wearisome life (Eccle. 1:8). We cannot tell the wearisome of a man (v. 8). It is heavy burdensome life (v. 13). “What a heavy burden God has laid on men!” (v.13). The life is full of pain and grief (2:23). “All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless” (v. 23). It is a meaningless and useless life (v. 11). Everything “was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (v. 11). “So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun (v. 20). What must we do?

 

We must stop and ponder everything we have done. Ponder, but we have to ask ourselves the right question. Of course there will be several questions that we can throw to ourselves. For example King Solomon the Teacher (1: 1) asked these questions: “What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? (v. 3), “And what does pleasure accomplish?” (2:2), “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?” (v. 22), “What does the worker gain from his toil?” (3:9)”. I've briefly summarized these four questions into two: (1) What do I really get from my hard work now? (2) What is it that I am really trying to accomplish now?

 

 

In other words, now we have to think about what to get and what to lose. In a word, we have to calculate the gains and losses. Then we have to lose some of the things we have to lose with the right discernment. And we must pursue what we must get. For example, what we must surely lose is vain things in the sight of God (1: 2, 14; 2:11, 15, 17, etc). In other words, we must lose things that are worthless in God's sight (2:11). Then what are the things that are useless to us in the sight of God? They are “cheering myself with wine” (v. 3), ‘undertaking great projects’ (v. 4), ‘owning more slaves, more herds and flocks and amassing silver and gold’ (vv. 7, 8), ‘becoming greater by far than anyone’ (v. 9), ‘not denying myself nothing my eyes desired and not refusing my heart no pleasure’ (v. 10), etc.. So what is beneficial to us in the sight of God? It is the man who eats and drinks and is satisfied with all the work he does (v. 24, 3:13). This is "from the hand of God” (2:24) and "the gift of God" (3:13).

 

We must enjoy this gift of God humbly. In other words, we should enjoy eating and drinking. In particular, we should enjoy eating and drinking with the person(s) we love. People may say that what a big deal about eating and drinking is. But when I think about my father-in-law who couldn’t eat and drink for almost 10 years until he died, I am grateful for the blessing of being able to eat and drink even though they are very basic. When I think about those beloved ones who were in a nursing home or an intensive care unit as well as my father-in-law, I think we should thank God and enjoy eating and drinking. We should also be happy about what we do. This is what the Teacher King Solomon confessed: “So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work … .” We must enjoy what we do (v. 22). And we must be satisfied with it (5:18). Our soul must be content with such happiness (6: 3). If we do not feel pleasure and satisfaction in what we do, this is vain (vv. 5:10). What good is it if we do not enjoy the pleasure even though we live a thousand years (6: 6), So this is what King Solomon said: “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him--for this is his lot” (5:18), “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun” (8:15). We must enjoy a short life in this earth that God has given us.

 

 

The Teacher King Solomon devoted himself to study and to explore by wisdom all that was done under heaven (1:13). Then he applied himself to the understanding of wisdom, and also madness and folly (v. 17). He wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives (2:3). So he tested himself with pleasure to find out what was good (2:1-2). So he tried cheering himself with wine as his mind was guiding him with wisdom (v. 3). The reason was because he thought that that was worthwhile for him to do under heaven during the few days of his lives (v. 3). Not only that, King Solomon undertook great projects such as building houses for himself and planting vineyards and all kinds of fruit trees in them and making gardens and parks (vv. 4-5). He amassed silver and gold for himself, and the treasure of kings and provinces (v. 8). He denied himself nothing his eyes desired and didn’t refuse his heart no pleasure (v. 10). But his conclusion was what do they accomplish? (v. 2), ‘I was chasing after the wind’ and “nothing was gained under the sun” (vv. 11; 1:14). So he hated all the things he had toiled for and his heart began to despair over all his toilsome labor under the sun (2:18, 20). King Solomon made these confessions: “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead” (9:3) and “Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand” (5:15). Even in this confession, King Solomon realized these truths: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (3:11) and “I know that everything God does will endure forever” (v. 14).

 

God set eternity in our hearts those who believe in Jesus Christ. Although we live on this earth, we enjoy eating and drinking, which is a gift from God, and enjoying our short life by rejoicing in what we do, but this joy and pleasure is never eternal. This pleasure and enjoyment is instantaneous. In other words, this joy and pleasure is something we can enjoy only in this world. We must enjoy the gift of God humbly, but we should not be satisfied there. The reason is that God wants us to enjoy eternal satisfaction. In other words, God wants us to enjoy not only in this Age but also in the Coming Age forever. That’s why God set eternity in our hearts (3:11). Not only that, God has made us to fear him and has enabled us to participate in what God does that endures forever (v. 14). That work of God is the twofold commandment of Jesus (loving God and loving our neighbor) and the preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, according to the Spirit’s guidance, we must love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind and love our neighbor as ourselves (Lk. 10:27). We must love God and love our neighbors with the eternal love of God. In doing so, God's joy overflows in our hearts. Therefore, we should enjoy and obey the twofold commandment of Jesus. And we must preach the gospel of Jesus (Mk. 16:15). We must proclaim the goods news to those who do not know Jesus Christ with the affection of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:8). Therefore, we must humbly participate in the lost souls whom God wants to save so that God’s joy can be our joy and we may be able to taste the heavenly joy (Lk. 15:7, 10, 24).

 

We have to enjoy the gift of God in a balanced way. We must humbly enjoy the gift God gives to us in this world. We should enjoy eating and drinking and also enjoy our short life while rejoicing in what we do. At the same time, we must humbly receive the gifts God gives in the coming world. God has given us the eternal heart to desire and also to participate in the eternal work that God does. Therefore, we should enjoy obeying the twofold commandment of Jesus and the commandment to preach the gospel of Jesus. In doing so, we will rejoice forever in this world as well as in the coming world.