Without God - Part 15: The Motivator for Work

 

“And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another.”

—Ecclesiastes 4:4

This is the fifteenth blog post based on the Book of Ecclesiastes. So far, King Solomon, reflecting on what he has learned in his old age, has shared how futile life is without God. He uses the phrase “under heaven” to denote a state where earthly humans are unaware of, and offer no worship for, or commitment to, God. In today’s verses, Solomon reflects on what motivates those who have no relationship with God, as found in Ecclesiastes 4:4-6:

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Without the meaning that God provides in one’s life, everything is meaningless, futile, vanity. This should not surprise us. As believers, we can look around at a world filled with every kind of evil. And, evil is insidious. It affects every aspect of our lives. We see it in our businesses, in our homes, in our politics, in our friendships, in every part of our lives. Where evil thrives, discord, dissent, discouragement, disenchantment, disturbance, and every other negative quality simply overrules every good intention.

But, with God—with a personal and a corporate relationship to Him—life takes on meaning, value, and worth. There is plenty to celebrate, enjoy, and profit from, when God is the One who leads us along the pathway He has opened up before us.

At the beginning of this new day, let’s take time to pause in the busyness of our day and reflect on the impact our relationship with God has on our lives. Then, let’s prayerfully thank Him for His goodness—expressed to us in the many blessings He pours into our lives.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 14: The Result of Oppression

 

“I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors—and they have no comforter.”

—Ecclesiastes 4:1b

If you were king of a great nation, what changes would you make to society? I can hear your answers echoing in my mind: “Banish all oppression, bring peace to the nation, end poverty, bring harmony among the races, end political discord, make certain all people had enough to eat and a roof over their heads, devote all possible resources to end the dread diseases that afflict so many people …” and your list would go on and on and on.

The most natural thing in the world is to expect that, if we had the absolute power over our nation, we would change society profoundly. But, I wonder if we would be able to do so.

In his time, King Solomon had absolute authority over the kingdom of God’s chosen people. He has vast riches and enormous resources. Yet, at the end of his life, please notice the words he writes, as found in Ecclesiastes 4:1-3:

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Wait a minute! Why didn’t King Solomon fix the things that were broken in his world? The truth is he genuinely tried to do so. But, Solomon learned that sin has such power even his kingly authority could not turn the tide toward righteousness, equality, fairness, and justice. Solomon’s statement above is a cry of despair, and a confession of his failure.

You see, only God can bring about revival—the coming to life again, to return to a normality where all things are in balance. Only God can cause people dead in their trespasses and sins to live again. Only the mercy, grace, and love of God, expressed through His Son, Jesus, can bring about the kind of changes that must occur to put society on the right pathway.

John Stott, in his article appearing in the October, 2011, issue of Christianity Today magazine, suggests there are four ways that Christians can influence society: ¹

• The Power of Prayer
  
  
• The Power of Truth
  
  
• The Power of Example, and
  
  
• The Power of Group Solidarity
  
  

As we begin a new day, we do not need to fall into despair because of the vagaries of our society. Rather, we can determine to exercise the four powers that Stott has outlined. If we do so, we will begin to see how the power of Christ, in and through us, can change our world.

 

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1 Stott, John. “Four Ways Christians Can Influence the World.” Christianity Today. Carol Stream, IL: Christinity Today Publishing Company, 2011. This referenced article first appeared on ChristianityToday.com on October, 2011. Used by permission of Christianity Today, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be copied, printed, or used in any fashion without specific permission of Christianity Today. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 13: Enjoying Our Work

 

“So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?”

—Ecclesiastes 3:22

“Work is supposed to be hard,” my dad remarked when I complained that wiring boats was difficult and that I itched all over. As usual, he was right!

When I turned twelve years old, my dad asked me if I thought I would want to go to college. While I knew that no one in the entirety of my extended family had ever attended college, I responded in the affirmative. He then said, “Well, you’d better get a job. Your mom and I will not be able to afford to pay for your college education.” I did not realize that he was teasing me. So, I promptly went out and began to search for work.

Fortunately, though my hometown was landlocked, there was a boat store a few blocks from my home that bought fiberglass shells and turned them into custom watercraft for use on inland lakes located forty or fifty miles away. The owner had started this somewhat unlikely business because he knew that, within five or six years, a huge flood control project on the Allegheny River would create a very large recreational lake located just a relatively few miles away.

After asking me some questions, the boat store owner hired me to install the electrical wiring for the boats he was outfitting. I was already six feet tall and could easily reach into the space under the front of the boat where much of the electrical equipment was housed. The downside for me was that the fiberglass of the hull made me itch all over. Nevertheless, after each school day and on Saturdays, I worked at that boat store for about a year, learned a lot, and began to save all the money that I made. I also went through many bars of Lava soap, getting those glass fibers off my skin at the end of each work day.

“Work is supposed to be hard.” That was the mantra of my father, who had become an adult just a few years before the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression that had gripped our nation. He knew what it was to work hard for very little wages. In fact, at no time, in the 74 years of his life, did he ever make more than $5,000 a year.

In his declaration of futility, when a life is lived without a connection to God, King Solomon asserts in Ecclesiastes 3:22:

So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

The answer to Solomon’s question, which is why he wrote this somewhat disturbing Book of the Bible to begin with, comes from his understanding that the only power that can dispel futility in someone’s life is the relationship that person has with God.

How fortunate we are that, because of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have such a relationship. God is the one who can bring us to see what will happen after us. He is the One who instills joy into our labor. He is the One who can give us rejoicing hearts, even as we work hard. Yes, God can give us joy in our labor. He can prompt us to sing while we work. He can give us relief from toil by making our hearts rejoice in Him.

Let’s begin another day by praising God that He is a “Burden Lifter.” He is One who can make even the hardest work tolerable. He can bless our labor and make our hard work have purpose and meaning beyond the mere task at hand. He is the One who can help us see how our hard labor can bring great benefit to us and to others.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Without God - Part 12: Are We Really Like the Animals?

 

“Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

—Ecclesiastes 3:21

I confess that I am not an “animal person.” I do have great respect for people who love animals. I see the joy that these folks derive from the relationship they have with their pets.

When I was six-years-old, I was attacked by a rabid dog and had to undergo the rather painful rabies shots into my stomach. This created in me a fear of animals in general and of dogs in particular.

Yet, over the years, I have come to appreciate the way that many people respond to their dogs. Recently, I even had a very positive experience with a dog at the home of one of my friends. This rather large dog seemed to sense that inside I was a “teddy bear.” He came up beside me and leaned against me as if to say, “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. You and I are both just big guys.”

Many people seem to believe that we humans are no different, and certainly no better, than animals. I believe that a very careful reading of Genesis 1 and 2 should put that idea to rest. But, I’m certainly not going to argue with people who feel such a kinship to animals.

In the ruminations of his old age, King Solomon asked some questions that he intended to answer later in his writings. But, these questions resonate with the question that I have asked in the title of this blog post: “Are we really like the animals?” Please notice what Solomon wrote, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:18-21:

I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

In a later blog post, we will see how Solomon answers this last question. For now, let me give you a bit of a spoiler: “Yes, we can know if the human spirit rises upward and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth.” How?

In their natural state, animals respond to their genetic programming. They act as they do because God created them to act in that way. Humans, on the other hand, have the ability to make choices in a thoughtful and reasoned way that does not exist in animals. Part of the choice humans made was a choice to disobey the one instruction that God gave first man and first woman: “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:17)

The redemptive act of Jesus was God’s gift to His human creations. Why? Because only humans needed redemption. If this is true, why did Solomon ask the question? He did so in order to be able to examine whether life on this earth was futile apart from a relationship with God.

As we begin a new day, let’s examine our own lives. Do we truly have relevance apart from our relationship with God through His Son, Jesus? The answer to that question is a good barometer of our spiritual condition, and one that we should take quite seriously.

 

_{Copyright © 2025 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}