Do you sometimes feel like your work is absolutely meaningless (beyond the money you receive for it)? That it’s a grind. It’s like chasing after the wind?  

I just recently finished reading Ecclesiastes with a 31 year old friend who I spend time walking through work and life with. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, does an analysis of life’s experiences and spends most of the book being critical about its meaning. Regarding work, at one point he says, “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”   

But as he worked through the real issues, he came to a couple of different conclusions for us to consider.    

First, he said, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.    (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)  

Then, at the end of the story, Solomon makes this powerful statement:  

“…here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”    (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) 

Work is absolutely meaningful! And, we are challenged in Solomon’s concluding words to do it with great integrity!