Ecclesiastes 6 UNCERTAINTY In our lives we will find real meaning in the relationships we have with God and other people. Our souls are made for that. If we have been blessed with money and material things, use them to bless God and other people. A responsibility comes with those who have much. “To whom much is given, much is required.” We are able to honor God with that which He has given us, and entrusted us to use for His glory and the furtherance of His kingdom.
Wealth can have the tendency to undermine our faith. Instead of living by faith in God and for God, we are in danger of thinking we are self-sufficient. It is possible for our trust in God’s sovereign will for us to be undermined as well. It can break up relationships we have with people that has been built on trust. At the end of our life, “Only what’s done for Christ will last.” To delight and honor God with our substance as well as with our bodies and spirits which are His, gives meaning and significance to our daily life and our life-goals.
The circumstances in which a person is born does affect the kind of life they will have as far as most people in the world. In the sovereign purposes of God there are those who live in places of poverty which changes very little because of the geography of the area, the politics of the nations, and the opportunities or lack of them where they are. Other places there are all kinds of opportunities for those who are willing to apply themselves to work and study. But basically, the common lot of all humanity is that all live and die under the overall sovereignty of God’s purposes.
So, the Preacher observes a man who has more wealth and opportunities than he can use in his lifetime. Yet he does not enjoy the benefits he has and doesn’t seem to appreciate all that sovereign grace has given him. Life “under the sun” is life that is vanity without God in it. Such disparity among the people of the world is not an issue we can solve. We may be able to make a little difference in a few lives, but basically, life and the enjoyment of it or lack of enjoyment depends on one’s relationship with God – or lack of it.
True Christianity is growing numerically in Asian and African countries, as well as in Latin America. But cultural Christianity is declining and rapidly dying in countries where existentialism, materialism and atheism is increasing. The percentage of people who have “No particular belief” as far as religion is concerned, has taken over mainstream “Christianity.” People now are picking and choosing bits and pieces of philosophy from all kinds of sources as well as various world religions in order to make “my truth, my truth.” You have yours they say, and I have mine. It is to such a mindset the Preacher addresses himself here.
In his bitter indictment of life, the Preacher is saying what good is life if we have everything and don’t have satisfaction and honor. All he had was valueless if he didn’t live to enjoy what he had. If a person dies without heirs, strangers will get all he worked for. It is a sinful waste of life to gather for one’s self everything he could hope for in view of retirement. If “eat, drink and be merry” is the plan, and to not live long enough to enjoy it, what is the point. When sickness comes in and you can’t eat what you want, or walk where you want, or do anything you want, and can only count the days until you die, what has really been accomplished in life?
The Preacher says it would be better to die a stillborn baby than to live a meaningless life. Such a child never knew what it was to live in the light because it died in darkness. That child was never exposed to the good and bad of living outside the womb, so doesn’t know what it has missed. Because the stillborn child experiences death the same way as the wealthy old man, they both have the same end as far as things “under the sun,” but the child passes through death sooner without the complications, frustrations and pain of living “under the sun.” His conclusion is the stillborn child is better off.
So, when the Preacher confronts the complacency of some of those who are living, he makes some observations regarding those things that cause him concern. “What can satisfy the soul? For those of us who know the Lord, to “Seek first the kingdom of God,” makes life worth living. That is added to our sure hope of eternal life now and forever. A wise man is the focus of verse eight, not the wealthy man. A rich wish man has no advantage over a poor man in that they can only be in one place at a time doing one thing. Even a fool shares that with the wise. We are better to enjoy what we have than fret over what we don’t have. A poor man may not have all the things he wants or needs, but both rich and poor need to know how to be satisfied with what they have at the moment. They need how to live before other people with respect and integrity for themselves and others.
The fantasy some have is that things would be better somewhere else. “The grass is greener on the other side of the fence.” The needs of our soul being met, are what brings satisfaction, not all that a person can get or achieve. God has already predetermined what has been made and the purpose for it. This is in contrast to the limitations we have as human beings. It is foolish for us to try to manipulate God’s order of things to suit our desires. We can’t even understand all He has made and done. The more we talk and complain about things, the less it will mean to us. We won’t change anything just by shouting about it or talking incessantly with long speeches about what we would do if we were in control of things. Less is better when it comes to vain talk.
God knows what is good for us now and He knows what the future holds. No human can accurately predict tomorrow or the days yet to come in our lives. We need to live each day for the Lord and value the hours we have each day to lay up treasure in heaven. We don’t have the answers to all questions and problems. It is our best wisdom to look up to God for today, not only for the future. When all is said and done, the conclusion for daily life and all of life is, “The will of the Lord be done.”