Special Note: As with last week’s emphasis on Ephesians, this week (and maybe some of next) will focus on Ecclesiastes, my favorite book of the Bible. In particular, I’ll focus on the purpose and meaning of life as discussed by this book. For an overview, see my sermon, Live Life in Light of Death. I encourage you to read one chapter of the book daily to go along with these devotions.

Today’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 4

4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. 5 Fools fold their hands and consume their own flesh. 6 Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil and a chasing after wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:5-6

Cannibalism. 

That’s what’s meant by verse five. Not literally but figuratively. Work has so consumed, so overtaken the people observed by The Teacher, that he says it’s as if they’re literally consuming themselves. 

It’s an apt metaphor. I’m sure we can all think of times that work has been so consuming, that we do feel as though we are consuming ourselves. We might call it burning the candle at both ends, or say we’ll sleep when we’re dead, or any of a number of colloquialisms that talk about working ourselves to the bone. 

I’ve been known to do that quite often. And I finally found myself convicted of it by The Teacher. Here in chapter four, The Teacher tells us that this is pure hubris. Work can move from giving us a sense of purpose to self-importance. I have worked, at times, to prove to myself how important I am and keep my ego propped up. It’s easy to fall into that trap.

We do not exist for work, but the world around us tells us that we do. I get a little angry every time my wellness app, the one my healthcare rewards me for checking daily, gives me a “health tip” that tells me how to be more productive. The Teacher would laugh at that and call it havel. We do not exist to produce; we exist to love. And too often, our busy quest to produce gets in the way of loving well. Our work will be long forgotten at our funerals; how we loved (or failed to love) will live on past our mortal lives. 

Better is a handful with quiet than chasing after the wind; in other words, better to be quiet and have less than to be running around like crazy, trying to produce more and more, being busy without ever questioning if we should be this busy, which is all just as futile as chasing after the wind. 

We love to tell others we’re busy. But God didn’t make us to be busy. God made us to love. And in our havel lifespans, full of toil and trouble, we have a choice to focus on self-importance or love.

Think
How busy am I? Is my labor, whether for a job or through volunteering or through family obligations, for joy or for self-importance? 

Pray
Ask God for a wise heart.

Do
How could you be less busy and more focused on loving those in your life? 

Think, Pray, Do. As we respond in faith to scripture, God moves in power through our minds, hearts, and bodies. We are the people of God. Thanks for reading today. Go in peace. Amen.

Think, Pray, Do devotionals by Ted Goshorn follow the suggested bible reading plan from his website and book, Prayer Changes Us. Find this Bible reading plan at tedgoshorn.org/biblereading. If you have found today’s devotion helpful, don’t forget to subscribe for daily emails at tedgoshorn.org and share with others that we may think, pray, and do faithfully.