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?
– Ecclesiastes 2:24-25
There is a small truth embedded in the very first pages of the Bible, one that can be easily overlooked. We overlook it by the way we read the second and third chapters of Genesis. Specifically, we read it as if Adam and Eve are provided with a casual, non-laborious existence in the Garden. Then after their rebellion against God, work becomes the punishment. If this is our understanding, we could never have a positive attitude toward work. We will always see it begrudgingly, as something we should avoid whenever possible, as something that has no redeeming value.
This is not what Genesis portrays. Genesis 2:15 says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” To say it another way, God’s perfect design for humanity included work. Adam and Eve may have enjoyed the garden, but that is in part because they worked the garden. They were the very first to grasp what the wisdom writer says: There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. The only thing that changed after the Fall was the uncertainty and frustration that would accompany one’s work (“the sweat of your brow”). Work existed before the Fall, and the nature of work was good.
How do we gain the right perspective on work? Through the following pages of Ecclesiastes, the writer offers some comments that help. For instance, in 4:4 he says that work done for the wrong reason (in this case, rivalry with another) is meaningless. Motivation matters. In the verses that follow he also observes that work finds value when it is for the benefit of another, perhaps a dependent child or a coworker who is invested with you in the work. Chapter 6 also includes some thoughts pertaining to meaningful work. “All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied” (6:7). The thought at the core of this statement is a cord that runs through the writer’s words. The fruit of labor was meant to be enjoyed. When it is not, for whatever reason, we have missed the blessing work was designed to bring.
Like everything else the writer addresses, work can be a good thing, but the benefits are limited. How so? Like anything else of the world, the fruits of our labor can be taken away from us. The fruits can be taken by force or by deception. They can wither away in places “where moth and rust destroy.” And if it happens by no other means, the happiness gained through earthly labor ceases once we leave this life. The writer is wise enough to know that anything that can be taken away from you in this life cannot be the source of transcendent happiness and meaning. Therefore, if the work of our hands is to bring us happiness, it will have to be during the days of our earthly life.
With this in mind, the writer makes this statement in Ecclesiastes 9:7-9. “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.” There is a brief statement in there I want you to notice. “God has already approved your works.” This doesn’t mean that God approves of evil deeds. It is a general statement reminding us that God has already approved that we work. It was God’s design from the beginning, and in one blissful episode of human existence work was not a burdensome venture.
So go ahead and work. Enjoy the fruit of your labor while you have the opportunity. Just don’t make more of it than is right. Too much stake in the meaning of work will prime us for disappointment. Instead, keep your vision set to the Kingdom of God. Thieves, moths and rust can’t touch the eternal things.
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 