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Enjoy The Good of Your Labor
The Gift From God
By William R. Cunningham
March 25, 2007
Introduction
I think a lot of times about the meaning of my life. What am I hear for and what does my life ultimately mean? Should I do this or should I do that and what is God’s will for me anyway? We toil over such questions and in the process forget something very important. While we are contemplating the worth, value, or meaning of our life we don’t realize that life continues to push forward. Perhaps God does not want me to contemplate the worth or meaning of my life. Perhaps such an answer is either irrelevant at the moment or cannot be answered at any given moment. Perhaps our lives are not static, but are instead going someplace. Perhaps our lives have meaning up to a point and then we have new goals and objectives from above.
In any case I would like to focus your attention on a statement that I made above. I said that life passes us by while we are contemplating its meaning. Therefore, even if you were to discover the meaning of your life after much contemplation, you would find that you have wasted much time and that some of life has passed you by. Therefore, let’s consider something else, which is more biblical in the first place. Instead of contemplating the meaning of your life use your energy to obey the Lord. Just follow God and you don’t have to worry about the meaning of life except for your own curiosity and order. Let’s consider the time we have now. What should you do now?
We are going to discuss enjoying life, which Solomon says is a gift from God. Do you enjoy your life? Do you take the time to enjoy the fruits of your hard labor or are you constantly working to get more and then working to get even more? Let’s stop for a moment and consider what we have and where God has brought us and perhaps the hopes of where he is taking us. Let’s talk about enjoying your life.
Discussion
Let’s begin our discussion with a passage of scripture from Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 2:20-25 (NKJV) -- {20} Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. {21} For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. {22} For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? {23} For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. {24} Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. {25} For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?
I think that what Solomon says here should be very much considered. We work hard our adult lives and what do we have to show for it? That probably is the wrong question and one that causes us even more grief for we think that we must have an accumulation of things in order to enjoy our lives. We tend to believe that if we have a brand new car, a new house, lots of money and other such things that we will have enjoyment. That is not true as there are many wealthy people who still are not happy and there are many poor people who are happy and content.
I think that one of the biggest problems that we have is that we strive to accumulate more instead of striving to enjoy what we have now. God has blessed us where we are and we should pursue that and find enjoyment in it. If we do get more then we can find enjoyment in that as well. However, it is important to enjoy what we have because that is indeed the gift of God according to Solomon.
We work hard and whatever we do accumulate will be left behind when we die. Who will obtain those things? I consider the wars that occur between family members when someone dies in the family. They start fighting over who gets this and who gets that. They are like vultures on a dead carcass. What vanity is there if the person who has died did not enjoy what his relatives are now fighting over? What if these relatives mismanage the items left behind. What if they simply sell the home and squander any money that was left behind. That poor dead person spent their whole life and obtained some things only to leave it with a bunch of fools.
We should stop worrying about what we have to show for our lives and start living with what we do have. Enjoy what you have now! That is the gift of God. Sit back and smell the roses so to speak and realize the blessing that you do have from above. Sure you may have more, but don’t allow your desire for a new car or a new home for example be the priority or defining object of your life.
Work and Happiness
There is another point that I would like to make in regards to enjoying the fruits of your labor. Can we enjoy an apple without there being an apple tree? Can we enjoy a new car unless there were funds to pay for it (regardless whether it was you who paid for it)? You see we have to labor if there is going to be fruit from that labor. This is the point that is neglected in the faith preaching because those preachers would have you believe that the gift to enjoy the fruits of your labor is free.
I must labor if I’m going to enjoy the effects of labor. I have to work if I can expect to receive a paycheck and experience the providence of God. We said in another study that the providence of God involves God moving in our lives through second causes (non-directly) like a magician. God moves through the events of history and human activities to carry out his will for us. For example, if God is going to give you a new car then somewhere along the line someone is going to have to pay for that car. The car may be a gift to you, but it was an expense to the one giving you the gift and ultimately it was God who provided it.
We should be willing to work because from work we can find happiness. I know that I get great satisfaction from accomplishing projects here and there. I get a great sense of accomplishment when I work on something to completion and therefore have a right to enjoy what that work produces. My small business provides me the opportunity to purchase computer equipment and other things. However, if I’m not willing to work then I shouldn’t expect any fruit.
I know from personal experience that fruit comes from work. It may not be all the fruit we want or need, but there is an effect from work. I was laid off from my job several years ago and I worked hard during that payless time. I joked many times that I wasn’t out of work just out of pay. I increased my efforts to promote my small business, Reggie’s PC Resources and it paid off. Because of that time of promotion I now have many more clients than I would have had. My business wouldn’t even be a small business if it wasn’t for that hard work during the time I was laid off from my job. So I can tell you from experience that you can indeed enjoy the fruits of your labor and just like fruit in nature, they may not come immediately.
Ecclesiastes 3:10-13 (NKJV) -- {10} I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. {11} He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. {12} I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, {13} and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Do good in your lives and enjoy the good of all your labor. Those are words to live by. They suggest two things however. First do good in your life. That is consistent with a lifestyle that is consistent with the way of God. The second again is to work. You can’t enjoy the good of your labor if you have not labored. What is your labor now? There is no fruit from nothing.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 (NKJV) -- {18} Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
God has given you the ability to enjoy the good of your labor so start doing it. First labor and then expect fruit. Enjoy that fruit. Enjoy the good of your labor because that is the gift that God has given you. That is the providence of God in that he provides you with enjoyment from the work that you have performed and he has provided that work for you to perform
Providence and Enjoyment
I know that we can never know the complete plan of God because we are finite and he is infinite. However, I am convinced that God guides us and provides for us. We enjoy the things that we have because of God’s gift and we have the things we have because of God’s providence. Therefore, the fact that we can enjoy the good in our lives is an indication of God’s providence.
We have to be careful not to equate the good in our lives with the accumulation of material things because if that is done then we will completely miss the point of not only God’s providence, but the ability to enjoy the good in our lives. This means that realizing the providence of God in our lives is fundamental to truly enjoying the good of our labor.
There is nothing that I can do on my own and therefore all that I can do has to be credited to God. Yes there are times when things go awry and there are times when things go very bad. However, there are also times when things go well for me. This doesn’t mean that I should learn to enjoy the good and the bad, but rather that I should learn to enjoy the good in the bad and enjoy the good too. I should strive to enjoy the good in my life when it comes. If bad things happen then I’ll just have to get over it and pray to God for strength to overcome.
If God is ultimately in control of my life then I should count on him for enjoyment. This is true whether I enjoy a long life or whether it is cut short at any time. At least I would have enjoyed the day. I remember when I was playing football a couple of years ago with some kids in my backyard. I wasn’t really playing since these were grade school kids. In any case I seriously injured my right leg by rupturing the quadriceps tendon, which required surgery to repair. However, during the whole recovery stage I had this testimony. I was at least enjoying myself when I busted up my leg!
I know find myself saying something like, “Regardless of what happens in the next moment at least now is a great day.” Can you say that? Perhaps that great day is something simple as enjoying a welcomed walk in the park, contemplating something you have done, or just meditating and worshiping God. Whatever it may be it is important that we learn to enjoy the good of our labor as life goes on because we don’t know what will happen at any moment.
With God
I think that it is very important to be with God in regards to the enjoyment of our lives. That makes sense since we said that it is the gift of God that we are able to enjoy the good of our labor. Therefore, we should spend some time to nurture a relationship with God. That is also crucial for finding contentment in any situation whether it is enjoyable or not.
Being with God gives us strength. Being with God gives us hope for the future. Being with God gives us direction. Being with God is the most important and most meaningful thing that we can do. We can work hard and accumulate great riches but they are meaningless without God. There are still those people who accumulate great wealth and still don’t enjoy them so it is not wealth that brings happiness. We need Jesus. We need a relationship with God to bring true fulfillment to our lives.
For Others
I have to throw this last point into our discussion. Enjoying our life should not be all about us. In other words, we should be mindful of the needs of others and find enjoyment in helping others as we partake directly in the providence of God for others. We should do all that we can do for others as we pursue a good life in accordance with God’s way and as we find enjoyment in our lives.
The Meaning of Your Life
I thought of an interesting thing. We consider the meaning of our lives to be something in front of us. However, the meaning of your life could also be measured by what’s behind you. What have you done for the Lord in his service or for others? What meaning would your life have if you were to die tomorrow? You actually may never know because you never know the affect you may have on someone and what that might result in for that person. This is just another reason why we should think so much about the future in regards to the meaning of our life, but rather to the now. What can you do now to bring meaning to your life? Perhaps God has already equipped you to do all that you are supposed to do so instead of groping for answers from God just live who you already are and thus fulfill your purpose. Just be you and be happy. Amen.