Working for Nothing
What hath man for his labor? (Eccl. 2:22 KJV) Ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (I Cor. 15:58 KJV)
Eccl. 2:11 and 18-22; Isa. 55:6; I Cor. 15:58 and 3:9
What Is God Saying?
Ecclesiastes offers a running commentary on the futility of working for anything less and anything other than that which God can approve and bless. Get a fortune and leave it all to be enjoyed by someone who didn't lift a finger for it (2:21). "Toil and strain" for selfish ends and have "days full of pain" and "a mind that does not rest at night" (2:23). There is a better way. Go to work for the Lord. This is so important that Paul closes the 15th Chapter of I Corinthians by saying, "(While you live) abound in the work of the Lord, for (that kind of labor) is not in vain." (I Cor. 15:58) In working for the Lord we want to avoid working feverishly for what we never fully enjoy here and can’t take with us. "This also is vanity."
How Does This Apply To Us?
God gives us the desire to work and the ability to work. Work is good, and it can be meaningful. Work is a blessing. No doubt about that. But what matters is, "For what are we working, or better, for whom are we working?" Paul was a tentmaker for a living. He preached the Gospel to put life into living. Peter fished for a living. Jesus Himself dignified work by being a carpenter. Though that wasn't His essential work, He made work an important thing. What are we working for? We can work for nothing, but in doing things for Christ and others in His love, we never work for nothing.
Pray With Me
Lord, everywhere men are laboring for security, riches, and comfort. Yet your Word teaches that all such labor leads only to vexation and vanity. How slowly the lesson is learned! To work for self-glory leads to emptiness. To struggle for this earth's fleeting riches leads to misery. "To a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it." "What hath man of all his labor?" -vexation and vanity; worry and fear; an existence stifling, narrow, and small.
Lord, You have a blessing and a purpose for labor. "Ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." Teach me the secret of possessing this joy. Help me to surrender to You all wealth and the strength to get it, all success and the talents to win it. "The world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever." I labor in the Lord—in the spirit of compassion, love, and the desire to see wrong righted and evil subdued.
To labor for oneself is always futile. To labor for You is never futile. Here is a change I need to make. By Your grace, help me to make the wise decision. May I choose the path that leads through labor to good and avoid the path that leads through endless labor to vanity.
In His name, who came to give meaning to labor and abundance to life. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
God has a blessing and a purpose for us in labor. Let us pray until we know that our ideas, our energies, our time (it is strictly limited), and our skills (not so limited as we think) are being used and blessed by God. Let us pray to be on our guard against pointless activity headed for the harvest of the empty heart. In the end, what does man have for his labor? It can be nothing or everything. Pray to know the difference.
