Nothing Better: Part 2
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Ecclesiastes 1.14
Scorning the Giver
Solomon wrote, “So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun” (Eccl. 8.15). Let’s review the salient parts of this commendation.
First, Solomon says that he offered this to the man who had chosen to live “under the sun”, that is, with regard only for his temporal and material existence. Such a man does not acknowledge God. He chooses to live without reference to or regard for Him and so must pursue his greatest good apart from any Word from the Lord. Every such “greatest good” will thus be only relative—to time and to the person who embraces it.
Consequently, such people fail to see their life as a gift from God. God gives them daily breath and bread, work to sustain them, relationships for them to enjoy, and all the rest. Jesus spoke of this as well (Matt. 5.44, 45), explaining that God’s love and provision reach even to His enemies. Whatever of good a man enjoys comes from God.
People scorn God when they refuse to acknowledge Him as the Giver of such gifts (cf. Rom. 1.18ff). But He keeps on giving throughout “the days of his life”—while people are alive. And then? Solomon’s warning in Ecclesiastes 9.10 is implicit throughout Ecclesiastes: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.”
Scorn the Giver of every good gift and all that you thought was your greatest good will fail you in the end.
The key to finding the greatest good
In three other places Solomon wrote of that than which there is “nothing better”: Ecclesiastes 2.24, 3.12 and 13, and 3.22. Each of these passages has in common reference to life “under the heavens”, that is, life oriented to God and His will. Each of these passages mentions the same kinds of things we saw in Ecclesiastes 8.15: daily provision, enjoyment, work. Ecclesiastes 3.12 adds that “nothing is better for them than to do good in their lives”.
How does any of this differ from that which failed the man who lives “under the sun”? Only in this: Those who engage in these activities, common to all people, do so as unto the Lord. They believe in God, trust His Word, acknowledge His gifts, and thus conduct their lives for Him and His purposes. They see their daily blessings and other aspects of their lives as gifts from a loving and generous God. And this makes all the difference, both in how they receive these gifts and in how they use them.
This was the way Solomon began his quest to be wise and to know the greatest good he could do (Eccl. 1.13). But, as he explained in Ecclesiastes 2, he compromised that commitment (v. 3), seasoning it with many diversions of things and pleasure, until he ultimately came to recognize the folly of his ways (v. 15). What had given him enjoyment and purpose, he came to hate—his life and his work (vv. 17, 18). He despised what he had regarded as his greatest good (v. 20) for at his demise he would no longer have it to enjoy (vv. 21-23).
This sense of waste, vanity, and futility—sin—brought him to his senses, and he began to recover his proper orientation (v. 24). He saw all he had accomplished for what it was—gifts from the hand of God. God, he confessed, had given him “wisdom and knowledge and joy” because He looked upon him with favor (v. 26).
This coming to his senses led to the lengthy and glorious meditation in chapter 3, where Solomon acknowledges the sovereignty, beauty, generosity, perfection, and ultimate judgment of God. Thus he returned to embrace his life and work—his portion in life, verse 22—as God’s gift, pointing Solomon to Him and leading him to find in fearing and obeying God the true and greatest good in life (Eccl. 12.13).
The greatest good
And this is the greatest good anyone can do: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of a man” (my translation).
What does God require of us? Solomon knew his Bible: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” (Deut. 10.12, 13) We fear God because of His greatness and power. We fear God because He is holy and we are not. And if we fear God, all the while tallying up the gifts He generously lavishes upon us, we will love Him, follow Him, serve Him, and keep His Word.
This way we recognize our daily blessings for what they are—gifts from God—and we enjoy and employ them as He intends. All our enjoyments are clean and wholesome, simple pleasures that express the joy we have in the Lord. Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving for every gift of daily provision, and we enjoy or use those gifts to honor God and serve His purposes. And our work becomes a way of honoring the Lord with the exertions of our body and soul as we pursue labors that allow us to provide for ourselves and our household. As we enjoy these blessings in the fear of God and according to His Word, seeing each one as the gift of God, we realize a oneness with the Father and His purposes into which we are drawn by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatest Gift and greatest Good toward which we all aspire in everything we do.
Solomon would not allow the lesser goods of a fallen world to become idols. He repented of his folly and gave himself, toward the end of his life, to that course of wisdom he had taken up at the beginning of his reign. And he wrote Ecclesiastes to help us keep focused on the most important question anyone can ask and the greatest good anyone can do.
Search the Scriptures
1. What does it mean to fear God? Does fearing God mean we don’t love Him? Can we love Him as we should without fearing Him? Support your answers from Scripture.2. Why do “lesser goods” become idols if we don’t receive them as gifts from God?
3. Why is it important to give thanks to God for everything? How often should we do so?
Next steps—Transformation: Spend time in prayer thanking God for all His good gifts. Ask Him to renew you in fearing, following, loving, and serving Him.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
How should joy affect our lives as Christians? Our booklet, Joy to Your World!, can show you how both to know more of the Lord’s joy and to invite others into it as well. Order your copy by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
