Ecclesiastes 1:1-11  

Why do you toil for what will not last?

Work – to some this is a four letter word, to be avoided at all costs.  A few years ago a very popular song came along saying Take This Job and Shove it I ain’t working here no more. Yet we all know that we must work.  There are different types of work and all are necessary.  It isn’t really work we don’t like it is just that at times what we have to do interferes with what we want to do.

1. God gave us the example of how to work

   a. for 6 days He labored in creation

   b. all that He did was with excellence each day He said it is good

2. God created Adam and told him to work

   a. Adam was to care for the Garden of Eden and name animals

   b. Adam sinned and lost his job, told to work the ground

3.  Colossians 3:23 the work you do, do it with all of your heart

   a. Ecclesiastes 2:24 we are to find pleasure in our work and in the results of our work- this is from God

4. The sum total of our labor is meaningless or vanity

  a. when you pass into eternity who will benefit from your labor

  b. will your heirs deal wisely or foolishly with what you have

  c. tell me of your great-great grandparents &what they left you

  d. life continues on from generation to generation a cycle

5. in the end you really have gained nothing from labor except momentary pleasures Ecclesiastes 2:10

  a. consider the hard work of hundreds of thousands of people along the gulf coast for 400 years

  b. what is the end result of their labors- the same as ours

6. God said we are to work John 6:29

  a. physical creation is for us to enjoy but it won’t last

  c. Hebrews 4:10 you enter God’s rest by faith this will last

7. Why work so hard for what will not bring you fulfillment?

  a. Ecclesiastes 2:26 only in God does life have true meaning & pleasures  b. the important things of life are not things

  c. Matthew 6:19-21 where are your treasures where is your heart

It is important that we work and not be lazy.  Never hold on to the work of your hands as though it has great value.  It can all be swept away in a moment, and one day will.  Do the work of God and believe Him.  You will find greater happiness and fulfillment in your life when God is the center.  Make the decision today to trust God not the work of your hands.