Believers Who Entrust Their Heavy Burdens to the Lord
10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. 11When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? 12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep. 13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. 14Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind? 17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath. 18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. 19Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. 20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
Solomon said that he who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. It hardly makes sense for a man who had spent his whole life seizing land and power to say this. But Solomon had lived with wealth, power, and honor all at once. Because he had that experience, he can say with confidence that covetousness is like a swamp from which there is no climbing out.
Because he had experienced all of this, he longed for people to hear his heartfelt advice and live lives without regret. Yet people will not give up the desire to enjoy that kind of glory like Solomon, even if they come to regret it.
Of course, living well as Solomon did is very good too. But setting money aside, if we want to live a spiritually mature life and take the counsel and experience of the forerunners in faith as our own, we can live a far more varied and fruitful life. When people become well off, at first they resolve to stay humble and they try, but wealth and power make people greedy. So unless they are filled with the Holy Spirit, in the end they abandon their promise to God.
If we have the wisdom to look even once into Solomon’s heart and ask what he, who enjoyed riches and glory, came to realize that made him say this, we can avoid hardships we need not suffer. Sadly, though, people pick out and hear only what they want to hear. When we hear counsel, what we need most is to think it over in light of the relationship we have built with the one counseling us, whatever our feelings. If we ask ourselves whether anything would come back to the one who counseled us once we accept the counsel and grow, we can see that person’s sincerity.
That matters because, although Solomon is not saying this out of envy of people living comfortably and happily, people of poor character may misread him: he has enjoyed all there is to enjoy, they think, and now he tells us that such a life is vanity. But if someone counsels us with all their time, means, and sincerity though they have nothing to gain, that heart is love, and we must not harm the relationship. If we listen to counsel on the premise that it is spoken out of love for us, we can become good co-workers to one another.
You probably know the children’s story about the brothers who threw away their gold. Once upon a time there lived two brothers who were very close. The older brother loved his younger brother dearly, and the younger brother respected and followed him. One day they set out on a long journey, and along the way they came to a bridge. The younger brother saw something glittering in the water flowing under the bridge, hurried down, and came back with two lumps of gold. The brothers shared them amicably, one each, and went on their way. When they reached a river and boarded a ferry, the younger brother, who had been lost in thought, suddenly took out his lump of gold and threw it into the river.
Seeing this, the older brother was startled and asked why he was throwing such a precious thing into the water. The younger brother answered that he had always respected and followed him, but once they had each taken a lump of gold, a strange thought had come to him. He said that when it occurred to him that both lumps were his because he had found them, he saw himself suddenly beginning to hate his brother, and he felt he must not keep the gold any longer, so he threw it away.
When the older brother heard this, he too threw his gold into the river and confessed that he had had the same thought for a moment. He threw it away without hesitation, thinking that life without gold, as before, was better than brothers growing apart because of gold. If, like these brothers, we recognize that what is in our hearts is sin and put out the spark, it is a great mercy; but had they fallen to covetousness, it would have become a very sad story.
When relationships break, it is almost always because of selfishness and money. Even if two people start a business together with the best of intentions, it is hard to keep a good relationship once greed and misunderstanding arise in dividing the money. If the other person does not trust you or accept your counsel but acts on feelings, even the closest relationship cannot help but go wrong. Once you are disappointed in someone, you think they may betray you one day, and you cannot be at ease with them or open your heart.
When trust has been broken, the person who broke it must make the effort to show sincerity to the end, to restore things in God. Only then can trust be restored in faith, and the two can become closer than before. To do that, they must examine themselves in the light of God’s word.
Covetousness in the heart is evidence that Satan has stepped in, so it is never easy to open a clenched fist and share. But such behavior comes from not knowing that the more we share, whether material things, knowledge, or ability, the richer and happier we become. So we need to be born again through the Word.
Jesus said in Luke 6:38 that if we give, it will be given to us: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, and that with the same measure we measure it will be measured back to us. When believers share with one another the spiritual strength they have and receive material help from one another, it is nothing to be ashamed of; it is the work of becoming rich by scattering and caring for the poor, as the Word says.
If you show goodness in Christ, people who know grace will become faithful co-workers who stand around you like a strong fence. Solomon had only now realized that such a life of believing in God is a blessed life, and that is why he told people to live a life of sharing.
Jesus said to make friends by means of unrighteous mammon. After Adam sinned, people and all creation came under the curse. So just as people whose sin has not been forgiven are sinners, all the wealth and power of the world became unrighteous mammon. How we use the wealth we gain in this cursed world matters a great deal. God wants you to be people who have received Christ. And he wants you, in faith, to use the unrighteous mammon you gain in the world where the gospel is preached and where neighbors are helped.
The world is, unavoidably, a place of spiritual war with Satan. So if believers who know God’s will use unrighteous mammon for the saving of souls, they can bear holy fruit. For in the end, spiritual fruit is borne only by devoting the things of the world.
1 John 2:16-17
16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. 17The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
This verse seems to sum up today’s passage. It says that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not from God but from the world. That means everything in the world is unrighteous, not in the sense that every created thing is evil, but in the sense that this is a world Satan rules. So for believers to bear the fruit of salvation, the wise thing is to use the world to do good.
If, like the brothers who threw away their gold, we get rid of the root of the greed that harms a relationship between two people, Satan’s scheme to spoil the bond between brothers can be driven off very easily. The brothers had the good fortune of finding gold, but when they realized that it would begin with hurt feelings and could lead even to murder, they threw away the gold, the root of the trouble, and so restored their relationship. Through this story we could see that the gold was not the problem; the problem was the human heart that changes because of the gold.
Anyone might think for a moment that if only there were no older brother, or no younger brother, they could have both lumps of gold. But acting as the lust of the flesh bids is sin.
Ecclesiastes 5:15-16
15As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
It says that it is a grievous evil for a person to come naked out of the mother’s womb and then return to where they came from without taking any of the wealth gained by a lifetime of labor. If we could use the wealth we labored for in the afterlife too, the more we had, the better. But however much wealth a person has, when they put off the body and return to God, they must be buried in the ground in a shroud with no pockets. If it is true that we leave everything behind, the body and the wealth we used as our own, and only the soul goes to God, then we must live for what comes after death. If you want a meaningful life, I hope you will be sure to live by God’s law.
The body returns to the dust, but without Christ the soul goes to hell. So while we live we must receive Christ, and only by living out the Word can we go to heaven. After death, only those who answer God’s question, “Is Christ in you?” can enter heaven. That is why, to save our souls, we must make use of this life of which it is said, vanity of vanities. The purpose for which God sent you into this world is salvation. So you must spread the gospel with the unrighteous mammon you gain in the world. How frightening would it be to live without sharing because of greed, and then, having put off the body, find that where you stand is not heaven? That is why you must receive Jesus Christ, the key to heaven.
The verse says that as he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. In the same way, the brothers had set out on their way without gold from the beginning. Before they had the gold, though they were poor, they looked out for each other’s feelings, sharing even small things did not feel like a loss, and there was no need to keep a wary eye on each other. But once those brothers had gold, they fell into greed and committed the sin of murder: wishing that the brother they had loved so dearly were gone. We must keep in mind that the desire, greed, hatred, and resentment Satan gives can go as far as murder.
When we fill the heart, where the Holy Spirit should dwell, with the lusts of the flesh, from that moment our eyes and ears are covered and our judgment grows cloudy. We take in Satan’s whisper just as it is, when he tells us to cut off the brother who loved us. Brothers may have shared love for many long years, but when greed arises, the gratitude they once felt disappears, and they listen only to their own thoughts. It is better to end quickly a relationship with someone who throws away the countless hours of love received and given and thinks only of their own uneasy heart and feelings of the moment.
If the brothers, who had been traveling companions in a harsh world, had abandoned their deep love and looked only at the gold in their hands, their relationship would have ended there. What Satan wants, in the end, is to take the other person’s life and to cut the bond of faith. That is why we must overcome the lusts of the flesh by faith. If we do not throw away the thoughts of the flesh, we are deceived by Satan’s tricks and judge only by what he shows us and lets us hear, and so we drift away from God. When believers are thankful for the love they have received, however small, and are glad to share, God will give them even more blessing.
An evil heart is contagious, like Eve, who fell for Satan’s enticement and gave the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to Adam as well. God himself told Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. But once people accept Satan’s whisper, their hearts become branded as with a hot iron, and they are not afraid to sin. People who sin do not stop, even though they know that breaking the Word brings judgment and that accepting Satan’s temptation means eternal death.
When Cain saw that God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice, he should not have killed his brother but should have followed Abel in offering a holy sacrifice. But just as Cain killed his brother when he came to think that Abel was loved more than he was, the older and the younger brother in the story might perhaps have killed each other. But because the brothers chose each other over the gold, both of them lived.
When Jesus gave the commandment to love one another, he was asking us to firmly reject Satan’s temptation and overcome sin. Evil does not fear sin, so it seems stronger than good, but for those who live by the Word, good is far stronger. When you are in God, you can be free from the greed Satan gives, and you can see how precious a brother or sister in faith is.
The lust of the eyes and all the pride of life are the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil that Satan hands out. So we must not let the sin Satan gives build a nest in our hearts. Satan’s purpose in the end is to hinder salvation. So only by resolving firmly can we protect our own lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters.
In verse 11 Solomon said that when goods increase, those who eat them are increased, and asked what advantage there is to their owner, except to feast on them with his eyes. This is not saying that poor people live at ease. It speaks of faith and responsibility. If one of the brothers had kept both lumps of gold for himself, he could have had a big house and hired many people to look after it. But then the beautiful love of brothers who used to ask after each other would have disappeared, and he would have had to live busily day and night to pay the wages of many people.
Solomon had been so busy with the affairs of the world that he ran looking only straight ahead, and what was left to him was not the God who had shown him grace but only an empty life spent busily day and night to feed and clothe others. That is why he said this. He saw that the laborers who received wages from him ate and enjoyed themselves within the money they were given, slept peacefully, and lived contented lives. But he himself only toiled, losing sleep, to feed and clothe people, and had no happy time to share his heart with his family.
He seemed to live a life others envied, but he had no peace because he was keeping others alive, and he could not sleep deeply because he was guarding what he had. That is why he said that all of this is vanity. But if we use the ability and wealth we receive from God to bring other people’s souls to life, there is no better life than that. What Solomon wants to say is not that money and power make people unhappy. He is stressing that we must live by faith, because a life without God lacks salvation, the most important thing, and will become a life of regret.
Ecclesiastes 5:17
17All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath.
It says that people who have not received Christ cannot enjoy spiritual joy and peace, and so they can only live in constant worry. That is why Jesus said to us, who cannot see an inch ahead, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” Life itself is hardship, but believers who are in the Lord do not carry that burden themselves; they entrust it to Christ, and so they can enjoy peace and show gentleness. When they lay down the heavy burdens of life, they can give thanks in all things and have room to pray for other souls.
Believers like this can enjoy the joy of the heart. People who have no joy of heart are always anxious, afraid of death, but believers have the assurance that they will go to heaven whenever death comes, and so they can live by faith every moment. It is truly sad to see believers who have received Jesus, who could enjoy great glory, drift away from faith because of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 6and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
No life is more pitiful than that of people who attend church all their lives yet fail to serve Christ fully and so do not receive salvation. They have heard that Jesus carried the cross for them, heard that he atoned for their sins, and heard that he will come again. If someone who knew for certain that they would go to heaven because of Jesus relies on the world more than on Christ, there is no way to help such a person. It says that if they, deceived by Satan’s whisper, mock the work of God and hinder the salvation of people of faith, that sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and so it cannot be forgiven by God.
Such people have received God’s grace and had answers to every problem, so they know that Christ is alive; but this is a sin they commit because their hearts have changed, and so it is of a different order from sins committed without knowing Christ. When a problem too hard to bear was solved, they knew it was God’s answer, gave thanks, and even swore to believe in Jesus faithfully. If such a person has a change of heart and says that the grace they experienced was not the work of the Holy Spirit but something anyone in the world could experience, they have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and may come under wrath.
I hope you will never commit such a sin. Because we live in the world, God can do no other than show us that the Holy Spirit is at work by solving the problems of the world. So we must discern well. Giving thanks when the Holy Spirit answers us and then, as time passes, turning our hearts and complaining hinders the salvation not only of our own souls but of those around us. So we must be careful. For such behavior, which hinders salvation, is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Jesus knows how weak our faith is. That is why he said that whatever we pray and ask for, we are to believe that we have received it, and we shall have it. He said that if you believe you have received an answer you have not yet received, it will all come to pass. But if you mock the work of the Holy Spirit by doubting an answer you have already received, you will come under God’s great wrath.
God sets the time of the answer for our sake, but when we have prayed a prayer fitting God’s will, the faith that believes we have received it is very important. The hardships we meet in life are hard to bear, like a typhoon that shakes the roots as it passes, but you know that strong wind and rain make a tree grow and bear fruit. Then even when hard trials come, I hope you will lay your heavy burdens down before Jesus Christ and, in wisdom, overcome them.