12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Solomon considered the idea of living wisely against living like a fool. He saw that there is more benefit from living wisely like there is more benefit in light over darkness. The wise man has a clearer picture while the fool stumbles in the darkness. But the same fate awaits both people—they both die. Ultimately no one remembers the dead for long whether wise or a fool. This meaninglessness drove Solomon to say that he hated life, he found it distasteful.
What benefit was there to all the work he had done if all that remained was to leave it to someone else after he died. There was no telling whether the person who continued where he left off would be wise or a fool. Sometimes we will leave what we have worked hard for to be enjoyed by someone who did not have to work for it. It is quite possible that all you work for in life will be left to someone who will not appreciate it and will squander it all. But even if not left to a fool, the fact that all you have worked for gets left behind begs the question of the ultimate meaning in all that effort.
The best we can do is enjoy the work we do and the benefits we get from it (eating and drinking). The ability to enjoy one’s work is a gift from God. To the one who pleases God, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy. To the sinner, his work will ultimately be for the enjoyment of those who please God.
Our work should not be what defines us. No matter how great your achievements, no matter how significant your accomplishments, not matter how successful your career, those things will be meaningless when you die. God created us to work (Gen 2:15) and our enjoyment will come from Him, not the significance of our accomplishments. The world celebrates big accomplishments like being CEO or president. God enables us to enjoy our work even if it something the world may consider menial.