The Unremembered Days of a Satisfied Life
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| Photo credit Suzanne Jaton |
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity… [But] everyone to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:10, 19-20).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
The day of my Dad’s farm auction, his landlady
also sold the land he had been renting from her family for over 35 years. When
my Dad asked her if she was happy with price the land brought, she said it had brought
more money than she would have ever hoped for. She only had one regret about
selling the farm that had been in her family for three generations: “I just wish
you could’ve gotten some of the benefit,” she told my Dad. “That’s okay,” he
replied. “I’m very satisfied with the life we’ve had here. I’ve been able to do
what I love for a long time. And it was a good place to raise three great kids.
I wouldn’t trade any of that.”
I had often noticed how content my Dad is, but
never more than that day. He taught me that a satisfied life comes from having
your priorities straight, in remembering what is truly important, and being
thankful for what you do have. He finds joy and satisfaction in the simple
things of life: his work, his family.
So, where do you find joy? Where do you find satisfaction?
Is satisfaction found in earthly treasures that
are seen? In money or wealth? J.D. Rockefeller was once asked, “How much money
does it take to satisfy a person? The billionaire snapped back, “Always a
little more!” Ecclesiastes says, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with
money” (v 10). Those who love money never have enough.
How about in our search for peace? There are
exceptions to this (and we can all think of a few people), but most of us do
not want a life of conflict. We would rather have a life that is peaceful and
serene. We want to be at peace with ourselves and others. Can you find
satisfaction in a life free of conflict?
Our culture holds up material success as the
key to peace—if you have enough of the things of this world, you will insulate
yourself from external and internal conflict. But a materialistic culture
proves itself wrong.
Money does not buy peace with others—in fact,
it often increases conflict. Ecclesiastes tells us, “When goods increase, they
increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with
his eyes?” (v. 11). The more one acquires, the more hangers-on there are to
consume the goods. An elderly woman once won the lottery and went from a modest
income to being a millionaire. She commented on how many long-lost relatives
she had rediscovered since winning the money. So many, in fact, that she moved
and shut off her phone service just to have some peace from others.
Nor can money buy internal peace. A man might
become so wealthy that he has more riches than he could ever use; all he can do
is “feast his eyes on them” or sit in the vault and count them all day like
Scrooge McDuck. For all his wealth, such a man isn’t much better off than a
poor man who also feasts his eyes on riches he can’t use.
Still another person might have enough money to
be a man of leisure, but for one reason or another is never able to enjoy his
leisure. When earthly possessions are the most important part of a person’s
life, they can quickly take over one’s mind and bring restlessness and worry
and sleepless nights. Ecclesiastes warns us, “The full stomach of the rich will
not let him sleep” (v 12b). In contrast, is the godly laborer whose sleep is
sweet. Although spoiled by the fall into sin, work is still a blessing.
Productive work is one of the most satisfying activities of life.
All the riches of this world cannot buy external
or internal peace. “Vanity, a grievous evil,” says Ecclesiastes. Not only can
striving for riches bring no real satisfaction, once a person has them they
bring all kinds of new concerns. In his greed, a man might hoard his wealth. He
becomes so obsessed with it that he becomes a slave to it. And despite his
strictest vigilance, there is no guarantee that he won’t lose it through some
calamity anyway.
Is satisfaction found in our search for
eternity?
We have all seen buildings and monuments that
bear the name of the wealthy person who gave the money to erect the building. The
thing about these structures is that they do not last forever. They will
crumble and fall and, on the Last Day, be destroyed with all the earth. So much
for making a lasting name for oneself. So much for money buying anything
eternal! “Vanity,” says Ecclesiastes.
What about leaving a legacy of wealth for a
person’s descendants. Ecclesiastes reminds us that he has seen where “riches
were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but has nothing in his
hand” (v 14). Look at Europe. On the continent, there are descendants of once
wealthy nobility who today possess grand titles but whose family fortunes have
been lost for generations. All this is “vanity,” says Ecclesiastes.
Nor, as the expression has it, can “you take it
with you when you go.” Even if a man should become rich and manage to maintain
his wealth for a lifetime, there eventually comes a time when he must leave it
behind. It is said that when Alexander the Great lay on his deathbed, he
commanded that contrary to the usual custom his hands not be wrapped. He wanted
everyone to see his empty hands as he was carried to his grave. And so in death,
the great conqueror and king of nations was on equal terms with the poorest
beggar.
When Job lost all his wealth, he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and
naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be
the name of the Lord” (1:21). Ecclesiastes puts it, “As he came from his
mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for
his toil that he may carry away in his hand” (v. 15). Notice that in the
Ecclesiastes passage, Solomon does not add Job’s words of trust in the Lord.
The man living under the sun without God has no such comfort. All the riches of
this world cannot buy eternity. “Vanity,” says Ecclesiastes.
So what is at the root of all this “vanity” of
earthly possessions? Remember the words of our text, “He who loves money will
not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also
is vanity” (v 10). There is that key word, “love”—that is not “love” as mere
affection or emotion, but as devotion that reflects God’s love for us in the fear,
love, and trust we are to bear to Him.
One of the most misquoted verses of Scripture
is 1 Timothy 6:10, which is wrongly cited as “money is the root of all evil.”
In fact, Paul wrote that “the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil.” And so it is. Whatever one trusts in and
loves so much that it is the most important thing in his or her life has become
that person’s god. Remember the catechism on the First Commandment. “You shall
have no other gods.” What does this mean? “We should fear, love, and trust in
God above all things.” This is the heart of the problem in a search for
satisfaction in life. How you answer the question: “Who or what is your god?”
makes all the difference in whether life even has meaning or if you will ever
be satisfied.
Well, if satisfaction is not found in treasures
that are seen, can it be found in treasures that are not seen?
In the final verses of our text, Solomon paints
a much happier scene than in the previous verses. He shows us a household where
godliness and contentment reign in place of greed and discontent. He portrays a
child of God, a believer. Although labor remains “toil” for this person, he is
able to find satisfaction in it. God enable him to enjoy his possessions and
enjoy his toil. This worker accepts his lot in life—his particular talents,
opportunities, challenges, and possessions. His work is not a frenzied attempt
to pile up riches. He works because it is the lot God has given him in life. In
the words of St. Paul, we are to do “all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians
10:31). We try to make the best possible use of our lives as ways of saying
thanks to God for the gift of life and for His many others blessings.
True peace is, in fact, meaningful. No, it is
not found in the love of money or the quest for possessions. But earthly
possessions are not in and of themselves evil. Ecclesiastes say, “Everyone also
to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to
accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God” (v 19).
All that we have is a gift from God. To know
this is to understand that all good things are gifts to be enjoyed. After all,
we confess, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,”
and in so confessing we acknowledge God’s creation is good. It was created to
give us satisfaction, to provide all that we need to support this body and life.
Finally, the godly man “will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him
occupied with joy in his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:20). He isn’t filled with worry
but with gladness. A cheerful heart is a gift of God. It allows life’s most
difficult experiences to pale in comparison with the inexpressible love the
Lord has first demonstrated to us by grace alone
Jesus says:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or
what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life
more than food, and the body more than clothing?... But seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25, 33).
Where does one find gladness of heart and the
kingdom of God and His righteousness? They come only from listening to God’s
Word. The Bible alone tells us of God’s love in Christ the Savior—promised in
the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New. “For God so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life” (John 3:16). And St. Paul reminds us, “He who did not spare His
own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him give us all
things?” (Romans 8:32).
“Let us [therefore] run with endurance the race
that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). “The
Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and
if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ” (Romans 8:16).
To have Christ is to possess the highest wisdom and most priceless treasure. Without
Him nothing satisfies. All is vanity. With Him, your life will be truly
satisfying regardless of your circumstances for you have the treasures that
last through eternity—grace, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life. Indeed,
for Jesus’ sake you are forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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