July 30, 2019
Tuesday’s Thoughts on Scripture comes from Ecclesiastes 2:21: because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. (NRSV)
Ecclesiastes is the same book that gives us the scripture in chapter 3: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”…a time to be born, a time to die, etc. And when it is our time to leave this earth through death, we know we do not take anything with us. We leave as we came into the world, without any “stuff” at all. And yet, while on the earth, we spend a tremendous amount of time toiling - learning to toil, growing into a vocation of toil, working hard and grinding away. Which begs the question, just how much do we put our trust in the “stuff” - bank accounts, health, retirement savings, material possessions, etc. - that we accumulate? And another question similar to that one - how does the world tell us that what we have accumulated will provide for everything we might ever need? Then there is this - we probably all know a family torn apart by fighting over the “stuff” amassed by the now deceased.
Yet, what are we to do? Not work? Not collect? Not save? Just sit and let someone else take care of us when we are perfectly capable of doing our own share of toil? I really don’t think that is ultimately what this is about, accumulating “stuff.” I believe it is more about the Who we can put our trust in. We can trust God who provides all, including Jesus and the promise of eternal life.
Besides, God actually is the owner of all anyway - we are simply caretakers/stewards. Makes trusting the “stuff” that doesn’t really belong to us seem foolish after all, doesn’t it?!
Blessings.
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