Transcription
So this morning, I want to show you the secret to enjoying the fruit of your labor. So turn with me, if you would, to the book of Ecclesiastes 5:18-20. One of my favorite books in the Bible. I love this book. In fact, chapters 5 and 6 give you some of the best money principles you'll ever find. But notice what it says. This is chapter 5:18-20. Coming to the end of the chapter, and then we're going to spend the rest of our time in chapter 6. But notice what it says, verses 18-20.
"Even so, I have noticed one thing at least that is good. It's good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them. And notice this, and to accept their lot in life."
What is your lot in life? God wants you to accept your lot in life. You know what that means? It means God wants you to accept the career that you chose and the money that comes with your career. Everyone with me? That's your lot in life. How many of you teachers? That's your lot in life. With your profession becomes a certain amount of money, a salary. How many of you are doctors? How many of you are engineers? How many of you are CPAs? How many of you run a backhoe? How many of you do this or do that? I want you to understand that's your lot in life.
Now, I want you to notice something about God. I love this about God. You won't find this anywhere else, especially in the ancient world. But already in the ancient world, notice what God says. He says, "It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy the work, their work." God wants you to enjoy your work under the sun during the short life God has given them and to accept their lot in life. Yeah.
Now, let's keep reading. "And it's a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work." Oo. You know what God's telling you? Do something you enjoy. If you pick a job that you hate, but you picked it because it makes a lot of money, let me tell you, even though you make a lot of money, you're going to be miserable. I could have made a lot more money in different careers, but let me tell you, I love my life. God has been so good to me. But one of the reasons he's been good to me is because I've accepted my lot in life.
Let's keep going. "To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life." In other words, accept the salary that comes with your job. This is how much you're going to make. God's financial principles will work for you just like it will work for someone who makes 10 times more money than you. Yeah. Yeah. The only difference is where we put the zeros. But if you enjoy what you do and you do what God tells you to do, when you get to retirement age, you will you will continue to maintain your same standard of living and you will enjoy your golden years. Not everyone needs the same amount of money when they retire.
Here's what's funny to me. You ask people in a survey, how much money do you need to have a good retirement? Used to be a million dollars. Then it went up to 1.2. Now it's up to, I think this last year, 2024, the survey, I think it went down to about one. It went up a little while and it went to 1.48. Is that what you need to have a good retirement? No. Not everyone's the same. Are you with me? So when we get to investing, I'm going to teach you how to calculate your retirement number. And everyone's retirement number is different. Why? Because if you've accepted your lot in life, you've enjoyed the work you've done and the salary that comes with it, and you've done what God says to do, you're able to maintain that standard of living when you get to retirement. It's Ecclesiastes, people. Let's keep going. Sorry.
"God keeps such pe such people," what people? The people who enjoy the work and accept their lot in life, "so busy enjoying life," that's me, "that they take no time to brood over the past." Now, according to Solomon, the secret to having a great life is taking the time to enjoy what you have and what you do. Yeah. In other words, you need to stop and take the time to eat, to drink, and enjoy the fruit of your labor. Enjoy your job, and enjoy your salary. You see, Solomon understood that life is a gift, and it's to be enjoyed. And that's what he meant by "this is indeed a gift from God" in verse number 19. Listen to me. Life is a gift from God and it's meant to be enjoyed. So you need to take time to enjoy it, or you're not being very grateful.
Lisa, I say this all the time. God has been so good to me. People have slandered me. They've told lies about me and rumors about me. And you want to know why? Because God's been so good to me, and they resent the fact that I follow God's principles and God's been good to me. We'll talk more about that later. In fact, verse number 20 says that if a person will do that, love his job, be content with his life, life, he'll get so busy enjoying life, he'll forget about the problems of the past. But the sad thing is, most people just can't do it. Most people have a hard time enjoying their family, their money, and their possessions. They have a hard time stopping to smell the roses.
So, in chapter 6, Solomon is going to continue on with the same subject, and he's going to show you how stupid it is, and that's the right word. I'm not being snarky. He's going to show you how stupid it is not to enjoy life. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 6, verses 1 and 2.
"I've seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men. God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor so that he lacks nothing his heart desires. But God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil."
Again, this is another example of a man not enjoying what God has given him. But it has a little bit of a different twist to it. You see, at first glance, it seems that God is the culprit. He's the one at fault. It sounds like what Solomon is saying here in these two verses is that sometimes God will give a man wealth, possessions, and honor, but he doesn't let him enjoy it. Instead, he gives it to someone else. In other words, that person dies prematurely before he gets a chance to enjoy his wealth, possessions, and honor, and another person gets to inherit it all, and he gets to profit from what that other person has done. That's what it seems to be saying in verses one and two. And people, if that's the case, man, that's pretty cruel of God. But that's not the case. That's not what this passage of scripture is saying. It's not God's fault. He's not the culprit. He's not the reason that this man did not enjoy his wealth and possessions. It's the man's fault.
And let me prove that to you. Notice that God didn't just give this man wealth, but he also gave this man possessions and honor. Now, it's possible to get wealth overnight if you win the lottery. Or maybe someone that you didn't even know was one of your relatives and he died with no one else and you just received this great inheritance. So, it is possible. We've all heard stories about someone getting rich overnight. Yeah. So it's possible to do that, to get wealthy overnight. But you don't get possessions and honor overnight. You see, the word "possessions" is translated from the Hebrew word "nekesh," which refers to valuable treasures. But more importantly, it refers to possessions that are good investments, not just nice things. In other words, assets. Some of you think you own a lot of assets, and you don't. Assets grow in value over time. They do not decrease in value. That new car is not an asset. The moment you drive it off the lot, it loses about 20% of its value. And I think each year it's like 15%. I don't know. Don't hold me to that. I forget the statistics on it. But I want you to understand that's not an asset. Now, why is your house included in your net worth? Because your house will continue to increase in value as long as you take care of it. Yeah. Yeah. It's an asset. So this is what the Hebrew word means. You see, they knew as much about business as we do. In fact, they probably knew more about business, the Jews did, than we do. And you know why the Jews know more about business? Because of the Bible, the Torah. Yeah. So it takes time to accrue valuable investments, things that are assets. And people, it's the same thing with honor. Honor is something that's earned over time. But my point is this, it takes time to earn possessions and honor. So this man did not die prematurely. Not only that, but Solomon says that he has everything that his heart desires. I know a lot of successful people, and if you ask them, "Do you have everything your heart desires?" And you know what they'll say? "Not yet." [sighs] Yeah, not yet. So the implication is, this man in the example has been working very hard to obtain wealth, possessions, and honor, and it's taken him some time to get there in order to reach his goals. But he's also earned it himself. So why does Solomon say that God gave it to him? Well, he says that because it's God who gives us the ability to get wealth. So ultimately, it is God who gives us our wealth.