confession of a workaholic

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

USE THE NEW YEAR WISELY

December 2015 (31)Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

24 There is something missing in a man who just eats and drinks and finds enjoyment in his work. This reality also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 because, apart from him who can eat or who can have pleasure? 26 Because 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 transient and a striving after wind.

confession of a workaholic

As this year comes to an end, it is quite appropriate that we find ourselves at this place in the scripture. This is Solomon’s confession. It is the confession of a workaholic. He looks back on a life of busy collecting. He collected stuff, and people, and projects and accomplishments. But he had missed out on the wisdom and knowledge and joy he could have had because he had not sought to please God first of all. So, he is struck by the impermanence of all his accomplishments.

Do not let this happen to you. Make the new year count. Do not simply try to build more, buy more, learn more, and enjoy more next year. Seek God’s dominion of your life in the coming year. Redirect your time. In the end, you will not regret it.

LORD, if you give us another year, give us the wisdom to spend it getting to know you better, and serving you more consistently.

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deflated

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

IS RETIREMENT YOUR DREAM, OR YOUR NIGHTMARE?

December 2015 (30)Ecclesiastes 2:20-23

20 So I turned completely around and gave my heart up to discouragement over all the work of my projects under the sun, 21 because when a man who has worked with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not work for it. This also is transient and a great evil. 22 What does a man get from all the work and heart striving with which he works beneath the sun? 23 Because all his days are full of disappointment, and his work is an aggravation. Even in the night his heart cannot rest. Even this will not last.

deflated

Solomon had a crisis of confidence. That confident ambition which had driven him all his life to become the greatest with the most – suddenly did a 180° turn. He had spent his life working at a legacy, only to realize that it would be lost in time. He looked at his children, and did not see the drive in them which had been his heartbeat. It was as if the work projects themselves were his children, and he was going to leave them as orphans. It left him bitter and disillusioned – his greatness suddenly deflated.

But in the midst of that great regret, God was doing his miraculous work. Solomon would have a lasting legacy after all, and many would benefit from it. His legacy is found within the pages of the three books attributed to him in scripture. His words help people to get a grasp on reality instead of walking in the darkness of self-delusion.

LORD, deflate our prideful, empty hopes, fill us with the desire to walk with you, and build your kingdom, not our own.

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I hate this job

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR WORK TODAY?

December 2015 (29)Ecclesiastes 2:17-19

17 So I hated life, because the work which is done under the sun was intolerable to me, because everything is transient and a striving after wind. 18 I hated all my projects which I worked on under the sun, because I saw that I have to leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will turn out a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over everything for which I worked and used my wisdom under the sun. Even this will not last.

I hate this job

Normally, Solomon was not one of those who went to work every day grudgingly, always looking forward to the weekend. No, he was so driven that he could not wait to try the next project, to acquire the next resource. But as he got older, a funny thing happened. He came to that perspective that he states here in Ecclesiastes – the perspective that sees how transient all effort and all life is. He came to realize that he would not enjoy his legacy forever, because he would die, and it would go to someone else. He stopped dreaming of the next task and started having nightmares about everything crumbling to dust all around him.

Some days I am there. I have one of the best jobs on the planet, but some days I am tempted to pack up. Still, I think it is healthy to know how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things. Without that perspective, pride can easily beset a person. And we all know where that leads.

LORD, thank you for the perspective on work that keeps us looking to you for ultimate fulfilment.

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temporary advantage

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

SOMETHING’S COMING THAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL

December 2015 (28)Ecclesiastes 2:13-16

13 And I realized that there is an advantage in being wise over being a fool, just like there is an advantage in being in the light over being in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also understood that the same fate happens to all of them. 15 So 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 impermanent. 16 Because of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring legacy, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Watch how the wise dies just like the fool!

temporary advantage

Solomon is not recanting his philosophy of wisdom, shown so well in his contrasts of the wise and the foolish in Proverbs.[1] No, he is saying that there is a definite advantage to being wise over against being a fool. Wise people follow the light, and so avoid all kinds of trouble and danger. The fool stumbles in darkness.

But this advantage is only temporary, because eventually the wise and the fool meet at the grave. Death claims both. The darkness of death awaits us all.

This is a message to all of us who have worked hard at keeping our lives under control. Our mortality is not something that we can handle. We cannot prevent our deaths, nor can we raise ourselves from the dead. We need a Saviour.

LORD, thank you for the light of wisdom from your word to guide our lives. Thank you for the promise of resurrection life your word contains. Thank you for your grace, and the death of Christ which makes that resurrection possible.

[1] Proverbs 10:8, 14; 11:29; 12:15; 14:3, 16; 29:9, 11.

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already accomplished

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

NOW WHAT?

December 2015 (27)Ecclesiastes 2:10-12

10 And whatever my eyes wanted I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, because my heart found pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward for all my work. 11 Then I thought deeply about all that my hands had done and the labour I had expended in doing it, and my conclusion: all was impermanent and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 12 So I turned to think deeply about wisdom and madness and folly. Because what can the man accomplish who comes after the king? Only what has already been accomplished.

already accomplished

My journey alongside the collector has given me a new perspective on my personal ambitions. For the past few years, I have been getting more and more involved in writing, as is evident from my books, blogs and the theological journals I edit and write for. Like Solomon, I can now look back on a considerable accomplishment. But, also like Solomon, I can assess my work and my assessment is that there is really nothing new there. I have merely rewritten some things that others have written in earlier generations.

But I have really enjoyed the process. Like Solomon, my reward has been the pleasure I have found in the work itself. What a loving creator we have. He finds joy in bringing us into being, and has created us with the ability to find that same joy in our own creations.

The bad news is that there are currently limits to our own creativity. At some point, each of us will look back and discover those limits. Eventually all of us will die, and the world will go on without us. Others will have their turn under the sun. It is this bad news – so eloquently stated by Solomon – which is the backdrop to the good news we find in the New Testament. There is a chance for another life, an eternal life. In the resurrection life, the joy of accomplishment can go on forever.

LORD, thank you for the wisdom we can find when we discover our present limits, and the joy of anticipating a future life without them.

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all the pleasures

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ARE YOU UNIQUE?

December 2015 (26)Ecclesiastes 2:4-9

4 I increased projects. I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also increased the number of my herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure from kings and provinces. I provided for myself singers, both men and women, and many concubines, all the pleasures of the children of Adam. 9 So I became greater and exceeded all who were before me in Jerusalem.

all the pleasures

Solomon was not only a success, he was a success in numerous diverse ventures at the same time. He exceeded everyone who had preceded him in Jerusalem. He had a taste of all the pleasures that his people had ever known. The value of this knowledge is that it answers the objection of uniqueness. Do not think that you are driven because there is something in your DNA which makes you special. All of us are driven. Each of us seeks a certain pleasure, a certain objective. But the collector did not just try everything, he sought everything, and achieved it all.

Those of us who are still seeking need to know that Solomon found all these pleasures ultimately unsatisfying. There was yet another pleasure which he sought in his old age, because he wanted something that would last.

LORD, give us the wisdom to seek the pleasure of your presence, the experience of a relationship with you.

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heart test on a holiday

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

ENJOY, BUT REMEMBER …

December 2015 (25)Ecclesiastes 2:1-3

1 I said in my heart, “Walk on now, I will evaluate you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But watch, this also was impermanent. 2 I said of laughter, “It is insane,” and of pleasure, “What good does it do?” 3 I searched in my heart ways to occupy my body with wine- my heart still guiding me with wisdom- and how to lay hold on recklessness, until I would see what was good for children of Adam to do under the sky during the few days of their lives.

heart test on a holiday

Solomon decided to test his heart while he was enjoying himself. He turned on his video camera and caught himself drinking, laughing, behaving recklessly, and having a good time. Watching the replay, he was able to analyse his actions. He had already learned his conclusion: it does not last. That’s what he is trying to tell you and me. There is nothing wrong with enjoying yourself. You just have to remember there will be a December 26th. Seek God, because a relationship with him will last for eternity.

LORD, thank you for a reason to celebrate today. Thank you for access to you, which brings a joy that lasts.

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lots of aggravation

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING SO HARD FOR?

December 2015 (24)Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

16 I said in my heart, “I have become great, increasing my wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has experienced tremendous wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to understand wisdom and to understand madness and folly. I discovered that this effort is also only a striving after wind. 18 Because with lots of wisdom comes lots of aggravation, and someone who increases his knowledge increases his suffering.

lots of aggravation

Young person, do you want to be successful? Don’t think that learning a lot or accomplishing a lot is going to make you happy. The collector has been there, and he can tell you that it will not happen. He learned all there was to learn. He accomplished more than anyone before him. All it got him was aggravation and suffering.

It was only later in life that this old man discovered that he had been doing many right things for wrong motives. All of his pursuits were for self, not God. His expectations destroyed his accomplishments. If he had sought the kingdom of God first, then he could have had both success and satisfaction.

LORD, we pray for all those young people who are just getting started with their life’s pursuits. Give them the wisdom to put your kingdom first, and the ability to have success and enjoy it.

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science is hard work

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

A WORD OF APPRECIATION FOR ALL SCIENTISTS

December 2015 (23)Ecclesiastes 1:12-15

12 I the Collector, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and to search out in wisdom all that is done under the sky. It is hard work that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have carefully watched everything that is done under the sun, and I saw that it all is impermanent and a striving after wind. 15 Whatever is twisted cannot be made straight, and what is missing cannot be made up for.

science is hard work

The modern day scientist has inherited the work of this ancient collector, and both would agree that it is hard work. Trying to figure out the intricacies and details of all that exists under the sky (and above it) takes patience and intelligence. Rules that many consider set in stone change constantly. Answers that were assumed for generations are often debated anyway. In the end, many discover that they have spent their lives searching for an elusive prize – an antidote, a solution, a better way to do things. Often that which had been searched for remains a mystery.

Still, let me just say to all of you scientists that we appreciate your work. You want to make this world a better place to live in, and we thank you for that. Many think that those of us who are religious are opponents of science. Not so. Solomon in his later years saw what some of us are beginning to see. Science is a useful servant, but not so good a master. Trying to figure the world out can be hard work, especially if you leave its creator out of the equation. Thankfully, there are many scientists today who have a strong relationship with God.

LORD, thank you for those who take upon themselves that hard work of learning and improving the world around them.

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happened already

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

WHAT IS REALLY WORTH STRIVING FOR?

December 2015 (22)Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

9 Whatever has happened is what will happen, and whatever has been done is what will be done, and there is not anything new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “Look, this is new”? It has happened already in the ages before us. 11 There is no legacy of those former things, nor will there be a legacy of later things yet to happen among those who come after.

happened already

The old Solomon looks back on his career as an innovator and remembers all those “new” buildings he built – all those “new” alliances he formed, etc., and he realises just how fleeting those innovations were. His conclusion is that everything a person might attempt has really happened already. Believing otherwise is just self-delusion.

Why would someone want to spoil the hopes of a future generation like that? Well, it is clear that Solomon is not trying to get his listeners to stop trying new things. He just wants them to stop putting all their hopes of fulfilment in their projects. The true legacy of any generation is not what they accomplish, but who they were.

LORD, in all our seeking for new things, help us to stay firmly grounded in our relationship with you – the ancient of days.

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