Take your Bibles again and turn to Ecclesiastes 2. We are going to finish this chapter tonight.

Remember Ecclesiastes is this really dark wisdom book. It’s a book that takes an honest look at life “under the sun” or without God. It’s a book that asks the tough questions - which Solomon calls “goads.”

And remember that the guy who wrote it - Solomon - was uniquely qualified to write a book like this, because He was the richest man in the world, a ruler of the world, and one of the smartest people who ever lived. He had the richest human experience imaginable: the best education, unlimited romance, unlimited money, unlimited achievement. And here he is looking back at it all and writing an honest review of life.

Let’s read verses 15-16 and we’ll break those verses down tonight:

”15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also [is] vanity. 16 For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool. 17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. 18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity. 20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil. 22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? 23 For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. 24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten [hereunto], more than I? 26 For [God] giveth to a man that [is] good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to [him that is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.”

I have a confession to make: I am a very, very ambitious person and I love to work. I have a hard time taking a day off or even taking a couple of hours off. I come from a long line of “workaholics” and I take great pride in working towards big goals.

I’m not really into “stuff.” I’m not a pleasure junkie. I’m a work junkie.

And this chapter hits me right between the eyes.

If you ask anyone how they are doing, what do they say? The probably say “I’m so ____________?” Busy. Right. Everyone is busy. Everyone is just go, go, going all the time.

I want to ask you some questions from a book I read called “Crazy Busy” by Kevin DeYoung. Just answer these to yourself:

1. Do you regularly work 30 minutes a day longer than you are payed for?
2. Do you check work email or phone messages at home?
3. Has anyone ever said to you “I didn’t want to bother you because I know how busy you are?”
4. Do your family or friends complain about not getting time with you?
5. If tomorrow evening were unexpectedly freed up, would you use it to do work or a household chore?
6. Do you often feel tired during the day and feel your neck and shoulders aching?
7. Do you often exceed the speed limit when driving?
8. Do you make use of flexible working arrangements at work?
9. Do you pray with your children regularly?
10. Do you have enough time to pray?
11. Do you have a hobby in which you are actively involved?
12. Do you eat together as a family or household at least once a day?

A lot of us are workaholics. And here is the thing, being “busy” and working hard can be just as much an idol or a drug as pleasure and stuff. It can also whitewash an empty life and an empty heart.

Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness, obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.”

This passage in Ecclesiastes is all about workaholism. The main point Solomon is making here is…

1. The Problem with Work

In verses 15-23 Solomon makes two big points about work and why it is empty. The first point he makes is…

Everything you work for goes to someone else. (18)

Look at verse 18

”Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? ”

The truth is that every one of us is going to work and work and work and work and work but we don’t get to take it with us. The old preacher statement “You never see a uHaul behind a herse” is true. You can’t take it with you.

We spend our whole life building something and then have no control over what happens to it. Someone else gets to enjoy the work that we have done.

As one of the commentators I read said:

This is one of the great frustrations of human experience. We are born with a deep longing to have something, make something or do something that will last. Yet the under-the-sun reality is that we will spend our whole lives working to gain something that we can never keep.

As I was working on this sermon I kept thinking about my grandfather. My grandfather is a hard-working respectable man. He built a good business and a good reputation. He’s the kind of guy who has never missed a rotary club meeting in 30 something years. He’s been very careful with his money and saved up as much as he could.

But do you know what - he’s in his upper 80s now and he doesn’t get to keep any of that. He might have a will, but who knows what the people he leaves his money to are going to do with it. It has to be very, very frustrating to think about.

Think about Solomon here. Solomon worked very hard and became the wealthiest person in the world. He grew his kingdom to be one the biggest kingdoms in the world. But when Solomon died, his son Rehoboam took over and lost 80% of his father’s kingdom.

You don’t get to take it with you.

In our house we have this walnut kitchen table we bought from a used furniture store. When we bought it, it looked brand new even though it was over 50 years old. Some dear old lady polished it and covered it and took very good care of that table. It is obvious that she really really prized it and it meant something to her.

Then…we got it. Three babies ate their babies food on it. Three kids do their homeschool on it. It’s still a nice table - but let me tell you - it looks nothing like it did when we got it six years ago.

Listen - you can work all your life and some other chuckle head is going to come around and enjoy all of the work that you put into something. They probably won’t care about your house or your car or your tool collection anywhere near as much as you do.

That is a goad. It’s the truth.

A second goad about work, a second point Solomon was trying to make was…

Work is just plain hard and it never gets easier.

Look at verses 22-23

”For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.”

What is he saying there? He is saying it is constantly on your mind. You can’t shut it off. Work is a constant drag. Work even keeps us up at night.

You have too much work, then you don’t have enough work, then you have bills and problems and fires to put out and it just wears on you.

And Solomon says “All his days are sorrows” - It doesn’t get easier. It is just relentless.

So he comes to this conclusion about work and workaholism: Living for work is empty.

Look at verse 17:

”Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

Look at verse 23:

”Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

It’s all empty. It’s all vexation of spirit. It doesn’t fulfill you.

It reminds me of something I read about Tom Brady getting interviewed after he won his third super bowl. He broke down a bit in the interview and asked “Is this it? It can’t be it. I mean, there has to be more to it than this.”

It’s empty. It doesn’t fulfill you.

---

Now, before we close tonight let’s look at Solomon’s conclusion. It’s actually a pretty surprising conclusion.

Verse 24 says:

”"There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.”

This is actually the first positive thing that Solomon says in this entire book. What is Solomon saying here?

That’s actually our second point…

The Difference God makes

Solomon just takes two chapters to tell us how empty pleasure and work are and then ends this second chapter by telling us that pleasure and work are gifts from God and that there is nothing better on this earth than to enjoy these gifts from God.

Huh??

You see - the difference between empty pleasures and fulfilling pleasures is the place God has in your life.

The difference between work just being a drag and work being a blessing and a joy is the place God has in your life.

Work is a gift. Work isn’t a curse. It’s a gift. When God put Adam in the garden, long before the fall, Adam had a job. When we get to heaven, when sin isn’t even in the picture anymore. We are going to have a job.

Work, when God is in it, is a gift.

That’s why Colossians 3 says:

”Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”

Even servants can work heartily. They can sweep the floor for God. They can clean the toilet for God. They can do it for secular bosses but if God is in the right place in their life - there is meaning there.

I’m going to come back and make the same point I made last week - you can work and work and work and work and work. But God controls what happens in the occasion and the real key isn’t more work or less work. The real key isn’t more pleasure or less pleasure. The real key is putting God in the right place in your life.