Our world is largely driven by profit. We constantly measure our gain for having invested ourselves in various labor. If there is little profit, then our activity was wasted.
We invest a great amount of our time in labor. If we spend eight hours a day at work, week after week, year after year until we retire at 65, then thousands of hours will be spent in the pursuit of a paycheck. Parents spend countless hours raising their children. It is mind numbing to calculate the number of hours we put in to such mundane tasks as waiting in line, or putting fuel in our vehicle, or watching commercials. Our time is valuable, yet we waste many hours of it every week.
The writer of Ecclesiastes stopped and took time to reflect on life. Some of his conclusions troubled him! He realized that much of what he was investing himself in possessed no long-term value. Buildings he constructed would eventually be torn down. The companies he started would one day be sold or liquidated. Relationships he cultivated might come to an end. His career, though brilliant, would inevitably culminate in retirement. His health, carefully nurtured, would ultimately decline. Every solitary thing he was investing his life in would eventually deteriorate and come to an end. Except one. God’s activity would last for eternity. The earth, with all of God’s work, would outlast its inhabitants.
Perspective is crucial to a healthy, productive life. Unfortunately some people don’t take a long, hard look at their life until it is almost over. They mindlessly keep plugging away at the same temporal pursuits, even though they inevitably lead to disappointment.
It is crucial that we examine our lives now and make sure that what we are spending it on, matters, and will last.