Working For The Wind By Jennifer Benson Schuldt #Read: Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. (Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 NIV) What profit has he who has labored for the wind? —Ecclesiastes 5:16 Howard Levitt lost his $200,000 Ferrari on a flooded Toronto highway. He had driven into what seemed like a puddle before realizing that the water was much deeper and rising quickly. When the water reached the Ferrari’s fenders, its 450-horsepower engine seized. Thankfully he was able to escape the car and get to high ground. Howard’s soggy sports car reminds me of Solomon’s observation that “riches perish through misfortune” (Eccl. 5:14). Natural disasters, theft, and accidents may claim our dearest belongings. Even if we manage to protect them, we certainly can’t haul them with us to heaven (v.15). Solomon asked, “What profit has he who has labored for the wind?” (v.16). There is futility in working only to acquire belongings that will ultimately disappear. There is something that doesn’t spoil and we can “take with us.” It is possible to store up eternal heavenly treasure. Pursuing virtues such as generosity (Matt. 19:21), humility (5:3), and spiritual endurance (Luke 6:22-23) will yield lasting rewards that can’t be destroyed. Will the kind of treasure you seek expire on earth? Or, are you seeking “those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”? (Col. 3:1). Dear God, please give me a passion for the unseen, eternal rewards that You offer. Make me indifferent to the temporary pleasures of this world. Treasures on earth can’t compare with the treasures in heaven.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:28:51 +0000
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