June 22, 2024 - Ecclesiastes 4-6

The Preacher:  “I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (4:4).  I was thinking about this, also.  Solomon seems to be saying that we tend to work hard and long in order to keep up with our neighbor, to “keep up with the Joneses.”  Think of the teenager who says to his or her parents, “But my friend has the latest iPhone!  I need it, also!”  Our neighbors, immediately behind us and next to us on the side, have just completed new, covered decks.  Wow, they look nice, especially compared to our 36 year old deck with its loose nails, worn boards, and general, overall look of being 36 years out in the weather.  And who knows, we might get around, one day, to building a new deck; nothing particularly wrong with that, I think.  Here’s the thing, though; Solomon is cautioning us about continued, never ceasing toil just so that we can have the latest and the greatest stuff and that largely out of envy of our neighbor.  This is “vanity and a striving after wind,” for all our stuff, one day, will be gone.  Better is to be content with what the Lord has blessed us with.

I am happy, O so happy

At God’s side,

I am walking in His presence,

Satisfied.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

I am walking in His presence,

Satisfied.

I am drinking at the fountain

Of sweet peace,

While the blessings from my Father

Never cease.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

Blessings from my heav’nly Father

Never case.   –Anonymous (1899)