Giving Life Meaning

Scripture: A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Observation: Solomon concludes the end of both chapters 2 and 3 of Ecclesiastes that the best a person can do is to be happy in their work. Here at the end of chapter 2, he ties that objective to God, indicating that their work is from God and thus their satisfaction in their work is from God ... that God gives the happiness and knowledge, whereas a sinner is simply given the work from which they do not find happiness.

In the midst of all this "meaningless" life of work, then, Solomon makes an important delineation here: Those who believe in God can have a true, lasting, enduring happiness and satisfaction in their work, while receiving knowledge and wisdom about the nature of their toils; However, non-believers will only have the work, and while the past times they partake in using the money of their labors may give them pleasure - from nice houses, to choice foods, to sex, to relaxation - they will never find true happiness, and in the end they will hand over everything to someone else anyway.

In other words, life and everything about it is meaningless, however a faithful believer can find satisfaction in their life's work because God will give them a special type of understanding and purpose about the work.

Application: I don't know my full "purpose", but I have often been reminded of what makes my job different than someone else might consider this same job. I am not just here to run a technology department for a government. I am here to make a difference I the lives of others. I am here to lighten the burden of others through my leadership, and to reflect and talk about the love of Jesus.

I need to spend more time on the latter part of that statement. While I may focus more on the former than I used to - and incidentally feel better about my job when I do - I do not talk about Jesus enough. Jesus needs to be the center of my thoughts, and expressed in my words. I need to bring him up in conversation ... because God has given me this purpose in my daily toils.

Prayer: Lord, if life is worthless, a life lived for you is not!! May I live my life for you, Jesus, and in so doing may I make you known to others, especially those who think their lives today are meaningless. Amen.