Work and the Pursuit of Happiness

Take a look around. Have you ever wondered why the happiest people you know are so often the ones who live an average life and work an average job? One of the happiest people I know works part-time job behind a cash register making a little more than minimum wage. Why does he seem happier than the person who has everything? Which person really has more? The one who has more happiness, or the one who has more money (which is only a means to happiness)?

Here's a short word from the wonderful world of vanity (a.k.a. Ecclesiastes). 

1. Money doesn't satisfy the one who loves money (5:10). Remember that you cannot love God and money. If money doesn't satisfy the one who loves money then who should you love, God or money? 

2. After a long day of hard work, the laborer takes delight in sleep (5:12). I certainly hope you've experienced this. Nothing's better than climbing into bed when you're absolutely exhausted from the day's work. As you lay there under the covers, the bed somehow feels softer and your mind is at rest because you know that your work is done and you've earned your rest. Remember, you not only earn money when you work...you earn rest. Also, the blessing of sleep comes whether or not you earn enough to eat a lot or a little (5:12). 

3. In contrast, the rich man who does not work will not be able to sleep because of his full stomach (5:12). He does not partake in the laborer's rest. 

4. Not all hard workers enjoy their labor (5:13-17). Some people work relentlessly day and night, simply to lose their money on a whim. This is vanity and grasping for the wind. Plus, this man doesn't even enjoy the process of making money. Rather, he constantly eats the bread of anxious toil, with much vexation and discontentment. 

5. Some men do receive joy from their labor (5:18-20). These men not only enjoy the fruit of their hard work, but they enjoy the hard work itself, namely the lot which God has given them. It is only by the grace of God that someone can enjoy their labor as well as the fruit of their labor. That's why Solomon calls it "the gift of God" to accept your lot and to rejoice in your toil. 

6. You need God to enjoy life (6:1-2). There is an evil under the sun: "a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them." It is only by God's grace that we can accept the work He has allotted to us and enjoy the blessings of life and labour. 

Lie: money=happiness. 

Truth: love of money=idolatry, sin, and unhappiness. 

Lie: work=unhappiness

Truth: God=the Giver of all good gifts, especially work/rest